


Hold on to me before I fade away

by Kaorumi



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Although mostly platonic relationships, Anxiety, Everything is so vague, M/M, Takumi is a sweet child here, art included, spirits and demons, then it becomes an actual story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2018-08-18 08:06:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8155108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaorumi/pseuds/Kaorumi
Summary: Takumi just wanted someone to believe him, no matter how freaking absurd or insane he sounded.





	1. Seeing All

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's a short intro but hey. Oh and I fell into Leokumi hell.... Although I'm late for it.
> 
> This beginning is extremely vague and barely any details, but it's like this for a reason. Uhm.... Enjoy? 
> 
> It's kinda like Natsume's Book of Friends crossed over with Fire Emblem Fates characters.

Takumi stands and he watches. Big sister holds his hand and she cries silently. Brother stands and cries openly. Little sister wraps her arms around his waist as she wails. He looks and sees Big brother standing strong. Yet Takumi knows Big brother’s not that strong. 

Takumi turns away and just watches. He sees the black box. People he knows crowd around it. He doesn’t hear them as they talk. They sound sad and he doesn’t understand. 

A lady stands to the side and waves at him. Her smile is sad and he knows.

He smiles and waves back. 

After all, he sees all.

._._._._.

Takumi's new. He stands to the side and waits. They call to him and he joins. He laughs, plays, and then says something weird. 

Everything stops, so he stops, too. No one understands, but they begin to play again. He joins: he laughs, he plays, then sees something weird. They look and see none. He looks and sees all. 

They play again and he plays with them. There's one extra. 

It goes silent and he insists. He points. He warns. No one listens. 

They back away and he stays. He sees and they don't. They don't want to play, so they leave. 

He stays. 

He's left alone and they play. 

Without him. 

Takumi stays and he sees all. 

._._._._._.

The teacher catches his eye and Takumi ducks his head. He doesn’t understand the words on the paper. He fidgets and picks up his pencil. 

He makes up answers and hopes for the best. Takumi hands in his paper and smiles. The teacher smiles back and moves on. Takumi stops the teacher and says something weird. 

The teacher looks and sees none. He points and sees one more. The teacher forgot one more. 

The teacher shakes their head and say they didn’t. Takumi insists they did.

No one believes him. 

The teacher points to the door and everyone watches. They call him a liar and laugh at him. They call him desperate and dim.

Takumi leaves because he sees all. 

._._._._._.

Big brother holds him tight and he sits there. He listens and waits. He hears words and he laughs. He nods.

Big brother says it's normal. He sees what others cannot. He's just special.

A treasure. A jewel.

But Takumi sees something. It's small. It's cute. It's fluffy. It smiles creepily. It stares intently. It leans forward. 

It preys. 

Takumi clings to big brother. He's scared and he does not voice it. 

Big brother does not see and talks of dreams. He talks of happiness. He talks of fun. 

Takumi cries inside. 

He doesn't believe his brother, but smiles anyway. 

Big brother tries. He can see that. 

It doesn't help anyway. 

Takumi closes his eyes and he still sees all. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suupper vague, yeah I know. Geez. Ahaha, I wonder if this made any sense to anyone... then again, maybe not. 
> 
> Next chapter will be in an actual story format. Here's a preview to the next chapter: 
> 
>  
> 
> He knew he shouldn't pick random things off the ground, but he couldn't help himself. Takumi looked once, then twice to make sure no one was looking, and bent down to pick up the weird looking ball of white fluff. He turned it around and a single, giant red eye stared back at him, wide eyed. 
> 
> And then it make a downright, bone chilling growl. 
> 
> Takumi paled, instantly regretting it, "Ah, shi-"


	2. Unusual of unusual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peace is good. Peace is always good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be using both English and Japanese terms for spirit and demons. Since this story follows Takumi, I'm mostly going to use the Japanese terms. And please, if you have a problem with that.... Deal with it. 
> 
> Yokai - demon

If there was one thing that Takumi learned to treasure, it was peace. If there was peace, then there was nothing strange happening. If there was nothing strange happening, then there was time to do homework. If there was time to do homework, then there was a happy family. 

So, in general, peace was a great thing to have. 

Takumi could almost cry in relief as he walked home from his first day at his new school. The moment he got to school that morning nothing popped up, nothing unusual happened and nothing strange talked to him. He stood awkwardly in front of the class as his new teacher introduced him, and still he saw nothing… “out of the ordinary”. Even when he sat indifferently in class the entire day or got overwhelmed by his new classmates during lunch, nothing happened at all. 

As soon as the bell rang, he found himself avoiding all of his classmates and walking home alone. To say that he was used to it wouldn’t be a lie at all. 

So, of course, he was damn near crying from the peace. 

Well, that was until he saw a little ball of white puff. A kitten, maybe?

He knew he shouldn't pick random things off the ground, but he couldn't help himself. Takumi looked once, then twice to make sure no one was looking, and bent down to pick up the weird looking ball of white fluff. He turned it around and a single, giant red eye stared back at him, wide eyed. 

And then it made a downright, bone chilling growl. 

Takumi paled, instantly regretting it, “Ah, shi-“ 

He didn’t even finish his sentence as he practically dropped the ball of fuzz to the ground and took off. He leapt off the path side walk and dove into the nearby bushes, scrambling to get away. Takumi took one glance back and blenched. 

That little fuzz ball steadily grew in size. Soon, little stubs emerged from the fuzz and formed into long, bony legs with tiny claws. The single eye grew as well, lolling around disgustingly as a snout formed below it.

Yup, definitely not a kitten. 

_“Ikona…”_

He didn't stay long enough for the yokai to finish transforming. Hell, he didn’t want to know what it really was. 

_“Ikona…!"_

Takumi ran through the small patch of forest and felt his heart leap to his throat. He could already hear the damn thing racing after him. 

A tree root snapped under his foot, causing him to tumble down a small hill. He cursed incoherently as he rolled all the way down and landed unceremoniously in a pathway. 

Right in the way of a couple of students. 

“Wah!” 

“Watch it!” 

Takumi shook his head and scrambled to his feet. He didn’t really look at the students as he brushed his arms off and looked behind him. 

“S-Sorry! Ah, I heard that there was a shrine nearby. Do you happen to know where it is?” he managed as he finally looked at the students. There was a girl with long hair tied into a high ponytail and a boy holding his bag over his shoulder. Takumi instantly recognized boy from his class, but the name didn’t appear. 

“A what?” The girl asked. Takumi could hear the yokai closing the distance. 

“A shrine. Or a temple - Is there one nearby?” he asked again, casting a glance over his shoulder. 

The boy pointed in a direction with a bit of confusion, “Well, there’s one over there but it’s — ”

“Thanks!” Takumi took off, diving back into the bushes on the other side of the path. He searched for the shire or temple, which ever came first, as he ran. If he could just get to one, then he would be fine!

He started to notice that the ground sloped upward slightly, but he didn’t bother to slow. 

The forest suddenly broke into a clearing and Takumi nearly tripped in relief. There, right before him was definitely some old temple. He didn’t think twice about how old and deteriorated it looked. He hurried over to the steps and reached for the door. He only caught a glimpse of the faded, chipped paint on the wood, noting that it looked like some bird of a sort. 

The door budged for a second before it gave way to him. Dust fell off and coated Takumi’s silver hair as he ran inside. He finally tripped inside and looked behind him. The yokai that followed him plowed through the trees and bounded toward him. Now that Takumi actually looked at it, he grimaced in nervous disgust. 

The damned thing was similar to a wolf, or maybe a dog - he didn’t know. It only had one eye; large, red and slitted like a snake. Its fur was now sleek and short, showing off its strong muscles. It opened its mouth, revealing its long, sharp teeth. 

Down right disturbing if anyone asked him. 

_**“Curse you, Ikona!"** _

The sound of its roar shook Takumi’s frame, snapping him out of his observation. He quickly got up and slammed the door shut, right as it leapt at him. He fell back when the yokai slammed into the door. The yokai roared and scratched at the door, but thankfully, it stood in place. 

Takumi took that time to move away from the door, dragging himself all the way to the furthest in the old temple - or was it shrine? Hell if he knew. All he was certain about was that he was safe. 

He fell to his back and coughed as he tried to catch his breath, thanking whoever placed a seal on this place. He could still hear the yokai trying to scratch its way in and shivered at the thought of the door breaking. 

Now that he was safe, how in the world was he getting out? He groaned at the thought of getting home late. It was only his third day in this new countryside town and already he was in trouble. To hell with it if his brother said that moving away from the city was a great idea. 

Takumi suddenly felt something at his side and, out of curious habit, grabbed it. He heard a snap as he pulled a piece of bristled, old rope with a crinkly old paper charm attached to it. He looked at it for a moment and turned it over, noting that it was recently broken. He instantly paled when he heard something rattle behind him, joining with the sounds of scratching just outside. 

He slowly turned around to see a miniature shrine surrounded by an old, broken rope and paper charms, “Oh, hell no."

_“The seal… it’s broken? Well, thank you… human kit."_

The little doors shook as the air grew suddenly heavy. Takumi bit the back of his lip as he got up and moved to the center of the room. Dread began to fill him as the tiny shrine doors slammed open. 

There was an awkward silence as Takumi stared. There, sitting innocently in the shrine, was a cute, fox-like dog stuff animal. He couldn’t help but snort. 

“Pfft, really? It’s a—”  he didn’t have the chance to finish as a large gust of wind threw him off his feet. He couldn’t get up as something stepped on his back, pinning him to the ground. There was a loud shriek and the door to the temple (or was it shrine?) broke. 

Then all he heard were screeching and snapping. He looked up to see a large jaw crushing the one-eyed dog. His eyes looked right above him to see a huge, fox yokai growling angrily. His blood ran cold at the sight of blood dripping to the ground. The one-eyed dog’s screeches died the moment the fox yokai snapped its jaws shut, completely obliterating the smaller yokai. 

Takumi shook slightly as the fox craned its neck to stare at him. He had met some scary and dangerous yokai before, but never one that brutally murdered other yokai. 

The pressure on his back was suddenly lifted, and Takumi forced himself to calmly sit up. He looked at the large yokai and nodded. 

“Uhm… Thank you…” he said, blinking up at it. The fox stared at him for a second before crouching low with an… eyebrow raised…? A strong, male voice echoed around him.

 _“You seem awfully calm for a human kit,”_ the fox said. Takumi gave it a flat look. 

“I’m used to it,” he deadpanned. It certainly wasn’t a lie. He had seen enough to get a bit of a feel of it all, not that he wanted it in the first place, “Besides that, you’re a pretty big fox yokai.”

 _“I can be smaller if you’d like,”_ it said, narrowing its eyes. 

“Noted,” Takumi said, dusting himself off as he got up from the ground, “But really, thank you for saving me.”

The fox yokai tilted its head,  _“You’re leaving, human kit?”_

Takumi walked back into the temple and retrieved his bag, slinging it on his shoulder, “Well, yeah. I have… homework to do.”

_“Homework? Kit labor?"_

“Ahaha… something like that,” Takumi laughed. He walked past the yokai and entered the clearing. The fox yokai got up as well, shaking its fur. Takumi couldn’t help but feel a little unnerved when it padded next to him. He felt comically small, his own head only reaching the shoulders of the white and blue fox. 

_"How pitiful."_

“Why are you following me?” Takumi asked when he reached the other side of the clearing. 

The fox lowered its head and puff a whiff of air in Takumi’s face, who spluttered,  _“You smell like someone I knew not too long ago.”_

Takumi shook his head and backed away, “Really? I never been here before.”

 _“If I remember correctly, it was a young human kit. A female,”_ the fox said,  _“She used to come by and visit, but she left one day and never came back.”_

“Well, I’m obviously not her.” 

_“You don’t have her hair color for certain.”_

Takumi stopped when a thought occurred to him. Poking the fox’s nose curiously, he stared at the yokai, “You’re a weird yokai.”

 _“So are you, kit.”_ The fox seemed to be slyly grinning as it flicked its bushy tail from side to side,  _“So are you.”_

Takumi shook his head and began his trek down the hill he managed to run up. He took note that the fox sat, watching him as he walked away. Yet, Takumi knew that wouldn’t be the last time he would see that fox. 


	3. Silent Anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foxes are sneaky little things.

The house was empty by the time Takumi made it home. He was a little put off by the lack of his older sibling, but then seeing the unpacked boxes scattered about the house reminded him that it wasn't very unusual. Instead, he decided to view it as an added bonus. His little run-in with the yokai got him a few scrapes and scratches that he needed to hide. Hence why he took the time to clean himself up before anyone else got home. 

The less he worried Ryoma, the less likely the older would get a heart attack.  

Takumi practically threw himself on top of his bed. It only had the bare minimum of a bed cover, a fluffy pillow, and a comforter (if one would ignore the cute, brown teddy bear at the corner of his bed). There were a few boxes (by a few it was only two small boxes) still unpacked stacked in a corner of his room and his closet was still barren. 

He curled up on his side and ignored it, telling himself that he'd do it later. Takumi let out a sigh, slowly dozing in and out... 

_"It's a cute stuffed animal, kit."_

He immediately snapped his eyes open and sat up suddenly. He looked to his side and blinked. There, pawing at his teddy bear, was a cute, fox-like dog stuffed animal. If Takumi remembered correctly, it looked like the one he encountered earlier. If it was, Takumi was screwed. Its fluffy tail swayed back and forth in amusement as it sat on its haunches to stare at Takumi.

"What the hell?" said Takumi as he slowly scooted away, "You're that... that fox yokai I met earlier..." 

The white fox tilted its head and seemingly smiled at him,  _"Hello again, kit."_

Takumi slipped off his bed and backed away toward the door, keeping his eyes locked on the yokai, "Uhm... yeah. Hi. You followed me home?" 

_"Erm... not exactly,"_ the fox said, looking a little to the side. Takumi stopped for a moment to give it a pointed look. The fox squirmed in discomfort before completely turning away,  _"So, I did."_

Takumi narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on the doorknob, ready to bolt if needed, "Why?"

The fox gave him a curious look,  _"You interest me. Not once have you asked me to play a game with you."_

"Why would I play a game with you?" Takumi asked, raising an eyebrow. 

_“A preference of how one protects itself, maybe,"_  The fox settled on its stomach on Takumi's bed and grinned.... somehow.  _"You see, you walked away before I could explain myself. But first, give me your name, kit, and I'll give you mine."_

"If I remember correctly, I'm not supposed to give my name to a yokai," Takumi deadpanned. The fox seemed to sigh and roll its eyes. 

_"Names are a powerful, yes I know. But please, I need to confirm something of importance,"_ the fox said with slight irritation. 

"I won't give it to you," Takumi said firmly, shaking his head. He dropped his hand away from the door and walked back to his bed. He didn't give the fox a glance as he opened up the window, "Look if you're here to just peeve me, then get out. I don't have ti-" 

_"Do you know the name Ikona?"_  The fox interrupted, getting straight to the point. Takumi's hands were suddenly glued to the window frames and he froze. Memories of a red-haired woman holding him came flooding back. He could remember how she would hold him close as she whispered stories in his ears to lure him asleep. Then he remembered the one-eyed... something of a dog trying to eat him earlier.

Gritting his teeth, Takumi shook his head and glared at the fox. 

"No. I don't. Now get out," he ordered. The fox just sat there, waving its tail. 

_"So you do,"_  it mused. Takumi didn't want to hear it as he grabbed the fox and practically threw it out of the window. 

_"Hey!"_

"Look, I don't know any 'Ikona' or whatever! Just go and leave me alone," Takumi snapped. He slammed the window shut and plopped back on his bed. So, he lied, but who cared? He didn't want to deal with it. 

_"It's rude to throw animals out of the window, you know."_

The voice was literally right next to him. Takumi groaned and blindly swiped at the damned fox, “Ugh, why can’t you animal yokai be stuck outside like a normal animal?!" 

_“I wouldn’t be bothering you if you didn’t throw me out in the first place! Just tell me if you know about 'Ikona' and I'll leave you alone."_

The finality in the fox's voice made Takumi stop for a second and finally looked up, "You will?" 

The fox nodded,  _"Yes."_

Takumi stared at it, “I don’t believe you.” 

The fox threw its head upward and practically wailed in irritation, somehow annoying Takumi. 

“Ahhhhh, okay, okay! Geez! I get it, I get it! Just shut up already!” he half yelled, clamping a hand around the fox's jaws. He enjoyed the moment the fox struggled against his grip before he let go. He sighed as the fox backed away a good distance, "Yes, I know the name Ikona. It’s…"  

The fox raised an eyebrow (how...? Takumi didn't know) to prompt him to continue. He lowered his gaze a bit.

“It’s my mother’s first name." 

The fox's eyes comically widened,  _"Oh dear."_  

"What?" Takumi asked, finally looking at the fox. 

_"Did she leave you anything? Like a book or a scroll,"_  it urged. Takumi blinked. 

"Uhm... I don't... think so,” he said, trying to remember anything like that, “All I have of her is pressed flowers.” 

_“Pressed flowers?”_

 Takumi was about to answer when the sound of a door opening was heard. 

“I’m home!” a deep voice called.

“A-ah — Welcome home!” Takumi answered back, hastily getting off his bed. He paused at the door and looked to the fox, “Anyway, I gave you an answer, so leave me alone.” 

The door closed after Takumi, leaving the fox yokai to stare at the wood in slight horror.

._._._._._.

“So, how was school?” 

Takumi looked up from his bowl of rice to his older brother. Ryoma was fit for his age, and his hair was red, and wild as it could possibly be. Takumi had remembered the hundreds of failed attempts he and his little sister tried to tame it. It looked odd to see his older brother wearing a white, somewhat frilly apron, but Takumi learned to get used to the sight over the years. 

“It was alright,” Takumi answered, “The school system is not so different from the last one. I’m a bit behind with the academic courses,” Takumi didn’t miss the frown on his brother’s face and quickly added, "but I’ll be able to catch up with the other students soon.” 

Ryoma gave him a smile, one that Takumi always aimed for. 

“I was worried for a moment, but I’m sure you’ll be alright,” Ryoma said, reaching over to Takumi. He ruffled Takumi’s bangs out of pure habit. 

“Ah! Ryoma-nii!” Takumi complained as he chased away his hand. There was a faint smile on his face that his brother didn’t miss. 

“There’s that smile,” Ryoma said as he sat back down, pulling his hand away from Takumi. “Now, chin up, Takumi. Things will be better this time around. I’m sure of it.” 

Takumi bit on his tongue before he said anything. He honestly didn’t believe his brother, considering the fox that got into his room and the — whatever the heck that dog thing was — that he ran into today. 

“Come to think of it, did you ‘see' anything today?” Ryoma asked, giving Takumi a look. 

“…No,” Takumi lied with a practiced smile, “I was fine today.” 

“That bruise on the back of your elbow tells me a different story,” his older brother said. Takumi’s eyes widened and he automatically checked. Sure enough, there was a faint, light purple bruise he could’ve sworn was never there before. He lowered his arm and looked at anywhere but Ryoma.

“I-I didn’t know that was there! It’s too light to really see it…” he said, his voice getting quiet. 

“I’ve been doing this for years, Takumi. Don’t think I wouldn’t notice things like that,” Ryoma chided, “How did you get that?" 

“Ahahaha…. I fell down a hill?” Takumi said, more unsure than certain. 

“How do you not know you fell down a hill?” Ryoma asked. 

“Good question,” Takumi said, putting down his bowl. 

“Takum—“ Ryoma didn’t get to finish as Takumi got up suddenly. 

“Wow! I’m full! Thank you so much, Ryoma-nii! It was really, really good! I got some homework to do, so I’ll be upstairs!” he said, hastily getting out of the dining room. 

“Hey! Don’t you dare think you can get away like that!” 

Then a phone suddenly rang, allowing Takumi to get to the stairs. 

“That might be Hinoka-nee! Can’t miss that!” he called over his shoulder before he bolted for his room. 

“Takumi!!” 

He sighed a breath of relief when he made it to the safety of his room. At least that was what he hoped if the fox yokai wasn’t there anymore. 

Slightly panicked, Takumi switched on the lights and noted that his window was wide open. The cold air flowed through and he shivered. The fox was no longer in sight. 

Suddenly, he felt tired from the events that had happened today. He dragged himself to his bed and once again, plopped himself on top. He was chased by some weird yokai, chatted with a fox type that stalked him home, and then his brother. 

As much as he loved Ryoma, Takumi just wished that his older brother would just stop worrying. He was glad that his older brother knew about Takumi’s ‘sight’, but he hated the fact that it caused so much trouble. 

Especially to Ryoma. 

His older brother had so much potential, so much promise. He was offered scholarships and was practically the best of the best. And yet, he gave it all up to care for his stupid little brother, who was out shined by all of his siblings. The little brother who lied and acted out to get attention. Even with all of that, Takumi’s siblings knew better and, out of all of them, Ryoma took it upon himself to help him. 

If only Takumi could just stop seeing all these things, then maybe… just maybe things would’ve been better. 

Maybe his family wouldn’t be so torn apart because of him. 

Takumi stared at his school bag sitting innocently by his bed and suddenly remembered the thick packet of papers inside. He wasn’t lying that he was behind in school, nor was he confident that he could catch up at all. 

He sighed as he grabbed for the bag, silently pulling out the school work with a heavy frown. With one quick flip through the stack, he made one conclusion.

He was never going to catch up soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm, I hope I did okay. 
> 
> And... Yes, Takumi sleeps with an adorable brown teddy bear. Protect him. 
> 
> Oh, and nice guess on the fox yokai guys! We'll see if you're right next chapter~ Anyone is still free to take a guess.


	4. Inside Out (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not nice to sneak up on people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I accidentally put "Inoka" instead of "Ikona" in the previous chapters. It's fixed now.

_"You can see them can't you?"_

_Takumi shies away and flinches. It’s cold and it hurts. He’s shaking and scared._

_"That was water from the temple! Holy water!"_

_A laughter here and a shove there. It hurts in more ways than one._

_"You're a demon, right? Be cleansed be cleansed! Ahahaha!"_

_“S-stop!” His voice is weak and no one hears. He steps back. He doesn’t want to hear it._

_"I heard your friends with them, so why don't you call them to save you?"_

_He just can’t hear it. It hurts so much. He just wants to be left alone! He scampers and runs. Then his palms hurt and his knees._

_“Are you trying to run away?”_

_He gets up and runs again. The laughter fades and the voices die out. His chest hurts and it gets harder to breathe._

_And yet he continues to run._

_He runs and doesn’t stop._ _He needs to stop and rest._ _He knows and yet he just can’t…!_

_“Takumi…?"_

_Then he sees it. It’s sudden. It’s huge. Its claws. It roars._

_He runs and barely breathes. He trips and falls on nothing._

_He falls and later lands. Not just once, or twice. He hits the ground and rolls._

_“Takumi...”_

_Then it stops. Nothing spins and nothing moves. He panics and breathes. It’s rapid and painful. He closes his eyes._

_“Takumi…!"_

_It hurts so much. He lays there and--_

_“Takumi!”_

_—and hopes. Arms hold him tight and he feels safe. A hand smoothens his hair and he feels secure._

_“It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here now.”_

_Takumi opens his eyes. Big brother holds him close and he stares. He hears words and he smiles._

_He’s safe._

._._._._._._.

Ryoma sat at the dining table, silently sipping his tea. He felt incredibly tired since he lacked the usual six hours of sleep he allowed himself. He didn’t mind waking up in the dead hours of the night to soothe his little brother. Nor did he mind holding Takumi close and easing him back to a blissful sleep. It was just… 

He sighed and rubbed the side of his head to fight back a mild headache. The stress from the last few days were steadily catching up to him, but he taught himself to control himself. For years he dealt with this, and now he wasn’t about to let all of his hard work fall into pieces. He wasn’t going to break their family more than it already was. 

He took another sip of his tea and glanced at the clock. It was just half past seven and he was beginning to wonder where his little brother was. Huffing a quiet sigh of amusement, he got up from the table and reheated a small bowl of miso soup. 

About a minute later, he heard a loud thump from upstairs and a familiar yelp. Ryoma smiled and placed the reheated bowl next to the slice of buttered toast on the table. 

“Three… two… one…” 

There was a lot of commotion upstairs that Ryoma never completely understood as he quickly (and neatly) packed a small bento lunch. Did Takumi still like octopus hot dogs? Ryoma shrugged and placed in the tiny octopi. Takumi still had the luxury to be a child. He had it set on the table when he heard his little brother scramble down the steps. 

“Good morning — I’M SO LAAAATE!” Takumi yelled as he burst into the kitchen/dining room. Ryoma couldn’t help but watch with amusement as his little brother quickly, yet carefully ate his miso soup. 

“That’s what you get for staying up late last night,” Ryoma teased, sitting back down to sip at his warm tea. Takumi shot him a glare. 

“Says the guy who stayed up later than me last night,” he shot back, shoveling a slice of tofu in his mouth. He chewed for a moment and swallowed, “Why didn’t you wake me up this morning?” 

“I think I remember you saying that you could wake up on your own now,” Ryoma said as he gave a half truth. He ignored the memory of his brother screaming startling him awake last night. He was lucky enough that Takumi didn’t seem like he remembered the nightmare. 

“You’re mean, Ryoma-nii,” was the only comeback Takumi had. Ryoma took the opportunity to get a good look at his brother’s appearance. There were slightly dark circles underneath his amber eyes, and it wasn’t as bright as usual. Then again, Takumi wasn’t a bright and cheery child by default. His uniform was definitely thrown on last minute with the skipped button and rumpled collar. His hair was still down and tangled, reminding Ryoma that he needed to trim the split-ends. The red ribbon he used for his hair was wrapped around his thin hand. Ryoma couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Takumi never replaced it for years, always using the same ribbon. 

Ryoma got up and fixed Takumi’s uniform. Takumi, of course, complained and tried to shoo away Ryoma’s hands, but gave up to stuff bread in his mouth.  

“If you need to come home early, just call me. I’ll come and pick you up,” Ryoma said, as Takumi finished his breakfast. His little brother tossed him a side glance as he got up. 

“I’ll make sure you don’t have too,” he said, grabbing the bento box. Ryoma shook his head and raised his arm. 

“If you say so, Takumi,” he said as Takumi raised his own arm. They quickly crossed arms upward and said together, “Fight-o!” 

It was a gesture they always did before parting ways, something that their mother, Ikona, had taught them. Needless to say, it was one of the few things that Ryoma and Takumi upheld by pure habit. 

“I’ll see you later, Ryoma-nii!” 

Ryoma stood at the front door, watching his brother hastily tie up his hair and disappear down the street to school. The smile on his face faded when he remembered the pile of boxes in the living room. He still needed to pick what he should unpack and what to keep at the side. He closed the door and shook his head. 

No, if he believed that everything would be fine, then he should unpack all of it. 

._._._._._.

Takumi sighed in slight exhaustion as he plopped himself underneath a tree behind the school. He barely made it to class on time and managed to keep up his disinterested facade the entire morning. He was lucky enough that no one bothered him. By the time lunch hit, he felt exhausted. 

He ate his lunch in silence, munching on an octopus hot dog and away from his classmates. At the corner of his eye, he spotted a small, somehow adorable little yokai bundling about by his foot. He merely blinked as it stared up at him with its tiny, innocent eyes. Takumi felt nothing bad coming from the tiny little kimono wearing mouse, so he purposely dropped a chopstick full of rice from his lunch. He didn’t think twice as he did the action, feeling at ease with the tiny yokai. 

_“You can see me?”_

Takumi didn’t spare it a glance as he picked at his lunch, “Yeah, figured you were looking for something. I don’t have anything to offer but a bit of my lunch.” 

_“You are giving me this, child?”_

“Yup,” Takumi answered automatically, “there’s more if you’d like.” 

The little mouse yokai shook its head,  _“You have given me more than enough, child. I will come back to repay you for your kindness.”_

Takumi quickly shook his head, “Oh, no! You don’t have to. Please, just take the rice. It’s really nothing." 

There was an odd moment of silence while Takumi ate. He tried to ignore the little eyes boring holes into his head when the mouse yokai spoke again,  _“You are a strange child.”_

“So, I’ve been told,” he said, tossing a glance to the yokai. 

_“You are unafraid of me.”_

“What’s there to be afraid of?” 

_“Don’t let that overconfidence control you, child.”_

Takumi took a moment to blink at the mouse, and offer a smile, “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.” 

With that, the little mouse yokai nodded its tiny head, and scurried off with the rice. Takumi watched it disappear into the bushes nearby with a faint frown. The moment was so short, but Takumi had enjoyed it (not that he’d ever admit that to his older brother). 

It was times like these that he felt disconnected with the world, and yet fully immersed in another, a world that only he could see. In a way, Takumi felt like he belonged in “his” world, than the “reality” Ryoma and his family seemed to always remind him of. Even then, he was the absolute worst with identifying things and couldn’t separate the two very well.  

Takumi missed the set of footsteps in the grass when a voice appeared behind him, “Who were you talking too?” 

“HOLY—” His lunch flopped over to the ground completely ruined as he shot up from his seat. He spun on his heel and glared at the person, “Did anyone tell you it’s rude to sneak up on people?!” 

The student before him stood with his uniform all in order ('Wait, really?’ Takumi thought to himself.) and an eyebrow raised. His blond hair was cut short and partially held back with a black headband. He had one hand on his hip and a book in the other. His brown eyes were narrowed as he gave Takumi a frown. 

“Did anyone tell you that it’s off limits to go to the back of the school?” the boy countered back. 

Takumi faltered, “N-no…” 

The boy hmphed and rolled his eyes, “Figured. I know you’re new here, so I’ll let you off just this once.” 

“R-right. Sorry about that,” Takumi said as he picked up his ruined lunch, “I’ll definitely keep that in mind.” 

The other boy bent down to help him, “Come to think of it, we didn’t really have a chance to talk yesterday, what was your name again?” 

“Ah, I’m Takumi,” Takumi said, getting up with the boy, “You’re… You’re— ah…”

“Leon,” introduced the boy, “About the rules, I’m sorry. I’m the class president, so it’s partially my fault for not telling you.” 

“No, it’s alright. I didn’t give you the opportunity to tell me…” Takumi trailed off, narrowing his eyes as he got a better look at Leon. Alright, he was definitely bothered now. For some odd reason, there was something that just wasn’t right about Leon, but what? 

“Well, now that we gotten that cleared up, we should head back…” Leon gave him a look and shifted his weight to one leg, “What? You’re staring at me.” 

Then it clicked. Takumi snapped his fingers and gestured to Leon’s shirt with a deadpanned expression, “Your shirt is inside out.” 

“Wha--DAMNIT.”

._._._._._.

By the time school bell rang, Takumi ditched the classroom before anyone left. He was determined to get out and make it back home alive without anyone getting hurt. He quickly found himself following the same path he took the day before, just with only a few yokai bustling to and fro. He made sure to ignore the odd looks that they were giving him as he passed. 

He certainly didn’t want to make another mistake. 

_“Excuse me, but are you Ikona?”_ said a sudden voice beside him. Takumi immediately snapped his head to the right and met with the sight of an abnormally large head attached to a body the length of his own legs. Though, it wasn’t the head that bothered him, but rather the size of the eyes staring back at him. Needless to say, it gave Takumi a heart attack. 

“WAAHHHHH!!” Without thinking, he bolted down the path and ran for it. He didn’t get very far when a pair of yokai popped out of nowhere with fans in their hands. One was a young boy with a feathery hair ornament and the other was a unhappy, dark haired girl. The only thing that told Takumi that they were yokai was the fact that they either had animal ears or horns. 

_“Ikona came back?”_

_“Ikona came back!”_

“Nooooooo! Leave me alone, please!” Takumi slowed enough to pivot on his heel, running a completely different direction. Hell, he was practically running like a headless chicken. “Nope! Not today!” 

He didn’t really look where he was going and took random turns, passing by other students walking home. He ignored the confused looks on their faces and slowed to a walk. He took note that no one was following him… Well, if he ignored the random wandering yokai that floated by him. 

He leaned against a tree for a breather since his heart was pounding endlessly and didn't seem to calm down. He used to never get freaked that badly, but this time he just couldn't help it. Swallowing uneasily, he took a look around himself.

Takumi cursed. He saw streets, houses, and maybe a park, but he didn’t recognize his surroundings at all. He was lost. Again. 

“Oh no…” He slipped down the tree’s trunk and buried his face in his hands. Yet again, he got himself lost all because he couldn’t keep calm. If only he noticed the bigheaded yokai sooner, then he wouldn’t have freaked out the way he did. Nor would he be lost at the moment. “How the hell am I going to get home now…?” 

_“Kit?”_

Takumi looked up at the familiar voice, and nearly cried in relief. There, sitting on its haunches, was the same fox yokai. He honestly didn’t know if he should be happy or scared, so he settled for being wary. 

“You again.” 

_“Yes, me again.”_

“W-what are you doing here?” Takumi asked, pulling his knees away from his chest to lean a little closer to the yokai. The fox twitched its ears and seemingly frowned. 

_“Honestly? I was hunting for a few butterflies to eat…”_

Takumi couldn’t help but look at the fox in disbelief. 

_“What? I’m free, I can do whatever I want,”_ it said, flicking its tail. 

“Uhm… yeah. Sure,” Takumi said, shaking his head.

_“Say, you said that Ikona was your mother, correct?”_ the fox yokai asked. Takumi frowned.

“Y-yeah… She’s gone though. Has been for years,” he said, clutching his hands into fists. He wasn’t exactly comfortable about talking about his mother. The pain in his heart still hadn't faded.

_“I see… so she has passed from this world,"_  the fox said, bowing his head. It then lifted its head as if to contemplate something, _"From what you have told me, your mother left you pressed flowers, correct?"_

Takumi nodded warily, "Yeah... They're all made into bookmarks and attached together like a small book."

There was an odd silence that stretched as the fox yokai stared at him with bulging eyes of disbelief.  

_"Well, then! That settles it,”_ the fox yokai said, standing on all fours and confusing Takumi,  _“I suppose I have to introduce myself formally. I am Fujin, guardian of the Fujin Yumi, and from this day forth, I am under your care.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who honestly didn't see that coming...? But, yeah, the characters are set and now we get to the fun part.... What the heck is in store for our little pineapple child?


	5. Inside out (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He goes flyin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I draw, so now I added art. I'm not that good yet, but I'll get there.
> 
> Enjoy~!

Takumi stared at the little fox--no, Fujin--with wide eyes, "Excuse me?" 

 _"You're excused,"_ Fujin said, flicking his tail. 

"Wha--? No, I mean-- What did you just say? A what of a what?” Takumi asked, shaking his head. He wasn’t sure he heard the fox right in the first place. 

 _“I said that I am Fujin, guardian of the Fujin Yumi,”_ Fujin repeated. 

Takumi blinked, “What’s a ‘Fujin Yumi’?” 

Fujin’s eyes bulged in disbelief, _“What do you mean ‘what’s a Fujin Yumi’?? How could you not know what the sacred bow is?!”_

Takumi shrugged, “Don’t know, don’t really care at the moment. I mean, give me a break. What does this have to do with mo—my mother?”

 _“I think it’s better if I just show you,”_ Fujin said. There was a sudden puff of smoke that covered Fujin and fluffed up in Takumi’s face. 

He spluttered and waved his hands to clear it, “What the— Fu—” 

As the smoke cleared up, Takumi only had the time to note the mass of white-gold fur right in his face before something picked him up from behind. He yelped as he was flung over the giant head of the fox yokai and landed haphazardly on its back. He instinctively grabbed hold of a handful of fur and stiffened in slight terror. “What the hell—” 

 _“Hang on, kit,”_ came Fujin’s voice. Takumi couldn’t help but noticed the vast difference between tiny Fujin’s voice and his actual voice. It literally went from slightly high pitched to flat out low and thunderous. It was a bit of a shock for Takumi, despite him seeing Fujin’s actual form before. 

“Hang on? Wait—Fujin—” Takumi couldn’t finish when he felt the fox yokai leap into the air. He couldn’t scream, even though he really, really wanted too, but clung on for his dear life. His heart dropped to his stomach as the ground was getting smaller and the tree tops nearly snagged at him. 

“F-Fujin! Put me down!” Takumi stammered, “This is— this is— please put me down!” 

Fujin just growled something that sounded vaguely like a laugh at Takumi’s frantic voice. “T-this isn’t funny!” 

He buried his face into the soft fur, trying to calm down his racing heart. He seriously needed to relax before he really did have a heart-attack. It didn’t help the fact that Fujin was moving so much and that he was currently high up in the air with nothing to hold on to but fur. Suddenly, Fujin’s movements smoothed, only moving at a steady rhythm. 

 _“Kit, look,”_ came Fujin’s voice. Hesitantly, Takumi lifted his face and opened his eyes. His breath went away at the sight before him. The wide view of the blue sky opened up before him, seemingly vast. Clouds floated high above him, and the mountains were at the corner of his sight. The ocean several tens of miles away glimmered in the sunlight, catching Takumi’s amazement. He slowly sat up, loosening his grip a little on Fujin’s fur. He turned slightly, taking in the sight of the town and rice fields slipping past him. He couldn’t help but stare in awe of it all. 

Without thinking, he lifted his hands and stretched outward, away from his body. He couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips and the staggering laugh that left him. The ribbon that held his hair loosened, blowing away in the wind. Takumi didn’t notice when it slipped through his fingers. All he could feel was the wind before him and the excitement of something completely new to him. 

 

“This is…” Takumi couldn’t find the words to describe what he felt, but he knew that his initial fear was gone. For once, he didn’t mind being suddenly swept off the ground and taken away. At the very least, he knew Fujin wasn’t going to eat him. 

Then, out of nowhere, there was a sudden shift in the air and Takumi felt it. It nearly knocked the air out of his lungs and alarms flared in Takumi’s head.

_“Kit, hang on to me!”_

He dropped his arms and grabbed Fujin’s fur as the Fox yokai banked to the left. His grip tightened when Fujin dove into the treetops and quickly avoided getting a branch caught in his sleeve. “Fujin?! What—”

He made the mistake of looking back. There, falling toward him, was a one-eyed dog of some sort (where had he seen this?) with its teeth bared and claws flexing. 

**_“Ikona…! You need to die…!”_ **

The words scared Takumi. Who would want his mother to die? Didn’t they know that she was already gone…?

“Oh hell no,” Takumi breathed, his fear jump starting his heart rate. He definitely recognized that damned thing. He quickly turned to Fujin and shoved his hands a little deeper into the fox’s fur to get his attention, “I thought you killed that thing!” 

 _“What? Killed? I can’t kill with a single bite!”_ Fuji snapped, leaping over a small cliff to run on the ground,  _“I’m a Guardian, for crying out loud!”_

“Again—What the hell does that mean?!” Takumi yelled as he ducked pointlessly from a swiping claw (it was quite a distance away). He grunted from the sudden stop Fujin made, nearly smacking his face into the soft fur. Fujin flicked his tail and took a jump over a wooden bridge and followed an overgrown path. 

**_“Die, Ikona!”_ **

“It’s gaining on us!” Takumi said as he glanced behind him. The dog… thingy was catching up to Fujin’s fluffy tail. “Fujin, what do we do?!"

Fujin took a moment to burst past a wall of trees,  _“What your mother couldn’t do!”_

“And that is?!” Takumi snapped. Fujin quickly nudged him off and shoved him forward, out of reach from the one-eyed dog. Fujin’s jaws snapped at it with such a ferocity that Takumi could feel the force behind it. 

_“Go to the house above! Find the Fujin Yumi! You’ll know what to do!”_

Takumi looked around him and panicked. He didn’t see the house the fox mentioned, until he took a step back. There was a series of roaring and … barking? Takumi could only guess that it was the dog. 

**_“I will make you suffer, Ikona!”_ **

He almost turned away to see what was going on behind him, only to hear Fujin growl at him to just go. 

**_“I’ll make you pay!”_ **

So, he did. He scrambled through the bushes in his way, ignoring the cuts that scraped his arms. His hair nearly snagged on a branch before he bunched it together and held it with a single hand. He cursed for a moment when he realized that his ribbon was missing. It must’ve fell off when they were running away. 

Shaking his head, he found a staircase leading to a small, hoshidan styled house and climbed it. He could see the paper screen doors were old with age, and the wood of the structure was chipping. A few tiles on the roof were missing and the gate was covered with overgrown vines. 

He didn’t think as he jumped over the gate with a hand to help him. The ground was littered with fallen leaves and wild flowers grew at the bottom of the house. Takumi hurried to the entrance, hands shaking from the adrenaline rushing through him. He felt the ground shake for a moment, before he was able to slam the door to the side. 

Dust and stuffy air greeted him nicely, faltering his movements for a second before he rushed inside. To be honest, he had no idea where to go or what in the world he was looking for. He did take note that there were pieces of furniture covered in white cloth in every room. He passed a room with a closet half open, seeing a futon messy on the floor and glimpse of colorful kimonos. 

Then he felt it. A small pull lured him away from the room and lead him further into the house. It was certainly bigger than he originally thought. The moment he entered another room, everything was silenced. He couldn’t hear Fujin’s roar or the ugly growling from the dog yokai outside. 

It was just him and the dull, elegantly carved bow hanging on the wall. Takumi walked over to it, remembering Fujin’s words— _“You’ll know what to do!”_

The moment Takumi’s hands touched the bow, the world around him exploded. He saw thousands of light, glowing and glittering near and far like a night sky. The bow in his hands shone a soft light and a pure blue bowstring appeared. Takumi adjusted his grip on the bow and held it correctly. 

Slowly, the world changed back to the room, but he could still see the lingering lights as he moved to the screen doors. He waved one hand and the doors snapped open, revealing a view that nearly took his breath away. Fujin’s totally un-fox like roar pulled his attention from the sunset. 

He could see that Fujin had pinned the vicious dog yokai down, turning to him with an expectant stare. Takumi nodded his head, lifting the bow and pulling back the bowstring. An energy hummed underneath his fingers and his gazed focused on his target. A matching arrow appeared at his hand, taking aim.

Takumi took a deep breath and, with a steeled resolve, released the arrow as he breathed out. 

._._._._._

Leon readjusted his bag once again as he walked through the park, a shortcut to his house. He had finally finished his duties at school and picked up the needed groceries for tonight’s dinner. He wasn’t sure what Marx was up to, but he supposed it might be okay. Might. 

He turned a corner and stopped. There was a familiar messenger bag sitting at the roots of a tree, completely unattended. Curious, Leon walked over and took a look at it. He pulled out a notebook and read the neatly handwritten name. 

**Takumi Asada**

“What?” Leon turned the notebook over in his hands and checking the bag again to make sure he wasn’t wrong. Why in the world would that new transfer student leave his bag just right there? Was he that absentminded? 

He checked it twice and even looked inside the bag for the inner tag with a number. He could tell that it was changed several times before, seeing how there was a slightly thick layer of white-out underneath the black ink. He also had an address, but when he looked again, it listed a location halfway across Valla on top of that white out. 

Even so, it was definitely Takumi’s bag. 

Confused, Leon looked around the park to see it nearly empty, only the occasional mother and child passing by, but no Takumi. 

Frowning, Leon took out his phone and studied the number. If this was Takumi’s number, then he could possibly give it back. If not, then he could always return it to the silver haired teen the next day. He held his phone to his ear and waited for him to pick up. 

There were a good seven rings before someone finally picked up.

“Hello, Takumi?” Leon said first, getting straight to the point. He needed to get home soon and he didn’t really have time to dilly-dally. 

 _“U-uhm— y-yeah? Who’s this? How’d you get this number?”_ Leon almost did a double take. That voice didn’t really sound like the boy he spoke to earlier today. He sounded ridiculously tired and frantic.

“I, ah, this is Leon, your classmate,” Leon patted Takumi’s bag to remind himself why he called, “I found your bag in the park and got this number from the information tag. Where are you?”

 _“Oh crap, I left it in the park? Wait, where is that?”_ Takumi asked. 

Leon blinked, “What? What do you mean?” 

 _“Huh? Oh— Ahhhhhh, exactly what I meant…?”_ came the reply. Leon suddenly felt the urge to groan, which he quickly replaced with a huff of annoyance. 

“How do you not know where you are?” Leon demanded. There was a small shuffle in the background.  

_“Uhm… I enjoy taking walks?”_

“You’re a horrible liar.” 

 _“I got really distracted and I wanted to find out what it was.”_ There was a tone of finality in Takumi’s voice, but Leon wasn’t satisfied by that answer. Not one bit.  

Leon automatically knew that was a lie anyway. The tone in Takumi’s voice was obviously giving away his anxiety and obvious hints of stress. Leon wanted to pry a little more, but then he remembered that he didn’t know Takumi that well. It wasn’t his job to really care. 

…Despite him being the class president. They weren’t in school at the moment anyway. 

Leon sighed and glanced at the grocery bag beside him as he spoke, “Fine. Tell me where you are.” 

_“I don’t know.”_

“Ugh, tell me what you see. I can probably figure out where you are,” Leon clarified, eyebrow twitching slightly. 

_“Oh, right! Ah… Well, I’m surrounded by trees.”_

Leon waited for Takumi to add a little more to that, but then there was just an awkward silence. 

“…That’s it?” he deadpanned, glaring at the tree in front of him, “There are billions of trees, Takumi.” 

_“Ah, sorry! I mean, I’m surrounded by trees and I think I found a shrine over here. No, wait it’s a house. A small one.”_

“A house? In a forest?” Leon asked, getting a little impatient. 

_“I’m on a mountain, I think. Well, at least I think I am.”_

This time Leon didn’t hold back the sigh of irritation, “What the hell— You know what, stay there. I know where you are.” 

 _"You do?”_ Takumi’s voice sounded incredulous. Leon couldn’t help but rub his temples from the on-coming migraine.

“Yes. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes tops.” He hung up before Takumi could answer. Huffing in annoyance, Leon picked up everything, neatly putting Takumi’s notebook back where he found it. By the time he left the park, it suddenly hit him. 

Why the hell was he doing so much for some kid he just met?

Either way, from what he heard about Takumi, Leon didn’t want to be at fault for a new, missing classmate. There was a red ribbon on the ground and he picked it up with a single thought. It was Takumi's right? He was wearing a ribbon in his absurdly long hair earlier. He shook his head and pressed a number on speed dial as he walked. 

He didn’t have to wait long for an answer, “Hey, Marx? Can I borrow your car?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, There we go, our dear tomato and pineapple actually meet soon. I'm not very good at updating timely, as you can tell, so we'll see. 
> 
> I know, you'll probably ask-- here's my Tumblr @acloudylight. It's my art blog. 
> 
> ...Yeah, I drew that Takumi in that priestess outfit. If you guys wanna draw art and put it in the story, then be my guest! I'll add it in the chapters. ^^


	6. Inside Out (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fox-cat-dog? Nah, Fox-Fujin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really surprised how much people like this story-- Thanks so much! No pic for this one 'cause I got lazy?
> 
> UPDATE: HOLY---- Thank you so much to @eru-iru for providing this chapter's picture!! Ahhhhh, I'm crying-- Check out their art!! It's amazing and so many cute Takumis. TT^TT

The silence was awkward in the car. Takumi sat in his seat, hugging Fujin as he ran his hand through the soft fur again and again. The sacred bow rested beside him, sticking upward in between the door and Takumi. His mind raced with thousands of excuses, all theses ridiculous and absurd (maybe believable) stories to explain why the  _hell_ his classmate found him in a godsdamned mountain. Leon had his eyes focused on the road, but he occasionally tossed him a glance here and there. To be blunt, Takumi was nervous as hell. 

 He was pretty damn sure that Leon had thousands of questions, but with the calm, and unreadable look on Leon's face, Takumi couldn’t tell. And Takumi was  _damn_ good at reading expressions and body language.

Hence why his fingers were stiff and his movements were jerky. He flinched when Leon adjusted his grip on the wheel, preparing for the dreaded question. 

“What’s your address?”

Yup, there it was. He was— wait, what?

“W-what? I, ahhh—” Takumi was at a loss and his mind raced a million miles per hour. He wasn’t going to ask about what happened? Or the abnormal fox in his arms, or the fancy as heck bow at his side?? “You’re…” 

“I’m asking for your address. Do you have it or do I have to take you home with me?” Leon asked, his eyes still focused on the road. Takumi panicked when he actually thought about it. He didn’t remember the newest address, or even the last two (not that it mattered anyway). Shaking his head, he stuck his hand in his pocket and hastily pulled up the address from his messages. He relayed the information to Leon with a shaky voice, but the other teen seemed to get it. In fact, he almost suddenly braked at the yellow-to-red light in front of them. Fujin jumped at the sudden jolt and dug his claws in Takumi’s arm, who yelped. 

“Oh sh*t! I’m sorry—Just caught me by surprise,” Leon rushed, quickly looking behind them. Luckily, no one was behind them. 

“I-it's fine—Fujin, let go of me—” Fujin's fluffed up tail swiped at Takumi's nose as he settled down in his arms, causing the teen to sneeze, “Freaking fox…!” 

Leon took the moment to actually look at Takumi with an eyebrow raised, “that thing's a fox?”  

“Ah, yeah,” Takumi confirmed, hissing at the blood welling at the claw marks, “He acts like a cat though.” 

The light turned green and Leon pulled his attention back to the road, “A confused fox cat, got it.” 

Fujin yowled in protest at the statement as Takumi laughed, barely heard and gentle. 

“So, you live pretty close to my house. I'll take you to mine to drop off the car and walk you to yours.” Leon’s voice was still calm, but Takumi could hear the slight disbelief in there. 

"Ah, I can walk myself home, you don't have to come with me," Takumi said, hugging Fujin, "I think I'll recognize the way home from there." 

Leon tossed him a side glance before taking a right, "Yeah, no. I don't think you should just walk up to your house looking like that." 

Takumi took a quick look at himself in the side mirror to his right. His hair was an absolute mess and his shirt had smears of grass and dirt. He frowned at the noticeable dark circles under his eyes and the smudge of dirt on his cheek. In all honestly, he looked like he just walked out of a fight. Technically, he did. Only Fujin, who rested his head on his shoulder, was purely clean; white, fluffy and adorable. He huffed as he tried to rub the dirt off his face, but he only made it worse, "I can go home looking how ever I want." 

"Right. Of course," Leon said, pulling up to a driveway in the middle of a street. He turned off the car and sat back, looking at Takumi, "Your bag is behind the passenger seat and your ribbon is right here." 

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a familiar, worn out red ribbon wrapped neatly in his palm. Takumi blinked in shock, "Y-you found it?" 

"Yes," Leon said, placing the ribbon in Takumi's hand and getting out of the car, "Come on, it's almost dinner time for me."

At that, Takumi scrambled out of the car with Fujin jumping out. He clumsily grabbed the bow and his bag before he shut the door. He hastily ran a hand through his tangled hair and stuffed the ribbon in his pocket. Fujin head butted the back of his leg, telling him to walk. Takumi paused for a moment before turning to Leon, who walked up the steps to his house. 

"H-hey!" 

Leon stopped, turning his head at Takumi's voice. 

"Thanks. For, ah, returning my bag, and the ride, Leon. I owe you," Takumi said, bowing his head slightly. 

"You're welcome," Leon said, "I'll see you tomorrow."  

Takumi turned around with Fujin at his heels, intending to leave. Unfortunately, the moment he stepped off the driveway, he was already lost. He had no idea where to go from there.  

“Oh, come on—” Takumi nearly jumped when Leon passed him, hands in his pockets and posture straight. 

“W-what?! I-I can go home by myself…!” Takumi spluttered, running to catch up with him. The look that Leon tossed him said otherwise. 

._._._._._.

The minute Takumi got home and Leon left (they literally lived four houses apart), he peaked his head through the front door and glanced around for his brother. The lights were off, so the late afternoon sun was his only source. He backed out and checked their driveway for any sign of Ryoma's car, but he didn't see any fresh oil spills on the pavement. He repeated the same process again just to make sure. 

Fujin had perched on his shoulder (more like dug his claws in Takumi's shoulder and stiffened his legs against his back) and followed with his head.  _"What are you doing, kit?"_

"Checking if Ryoma-nii's home, that's what," Takumi answered, looking over his other shoulder one last time before slipping into his house. He quietly closed the door just in case, and snuck up the stairs.

Or at least tried. 

His movements were a little jerky and loud since his exhaustion finally began to take a toll on him. 

"Takumi?"

The second he reached the last step, the hallway lights flicked on. He jolted, causing Fujin to tumble off his back and down the stairs. He accidentally dropped the bow and it clattered loudly to the floor. Eyes wide, Takumi snapped his eyes before him. 

There, standing with a hand still on the light switch, was Ryoma. He wore a sleeveless shirt and tan shorts. Takumi couldn't help but wonder how he managed to get all that wild hair in a ponytail. A single box was tucked underneath his arm and his gaze settled on Takumi. 

Ryoma never left the house at all. 

“Bathroom. Now.” 

“Ahhh, it’s just a few scratches— I can—”  

“Now.” 

Ryoma’s hardened stare was nothing to kid about. Takumi picked up the Fujin Yumi off the floor and hurried to the nearest bathroom. He left his bag and the bow at the doorway and Ryoma followed him in. 

The medical kit was brought out from the cabinet and the tap water was turned on. Takumi grabbed the closest towel and doused it in the semi-warm water, before he rubbed the dirt off his face. 

“Ryoma-nii, I’m so sorry, I should’ve—” Takumi began, but his brother gave him a stern look that shut him up. He clamped his mouth shut and sat on top of the covered toilet seat, allowing Ryoma to treat the scratches on his arms. The antiseptic stung, but it was a familiar pain that Takumi had gotten used to. 

There was a thick silence as Takumi just sat there, allowing Ryoma to dress his wounds. He could tell that his brother was upset, maybe even furious, but his expression didn’t show it. His only hints were the gentle handling of his wounds, and slight shake in Ryoma’s grip. 

“I’m sorry,” Takumi muttered, letting his gaze fall to the floor. He faintly heard the light steps of Fujin stopping at the bathroom door, and tossed the fox spirit a quick glance. Fujin titled his head a little and gave him a look that clearly said, _“Buuuuusted~”_

Takumi almost stuck a finger at him. Almost. 

“Stop apologizing,” Ryoma said. He focused on wrapping Takumi’s arm as he spoke, “I’m just glad you made it home.” 

Takumi couldn’t help but feel like he said something wrong, but he didn’t have the chance to say anything more. 

“There, done. Now go, wash up and—” Ryoma didn’t finish when he turned around and spotted Fujin. There was an awkward silence as Fujin’s eyes locked with Ryoma’s. Cursing silently, Takumi sprang up and slipped out of the bathroom, grabbing Fujin in his arms in a clumsy hug.  

“Takumiiii,” Ryoma started, and Takumi immediately spluttered a response. 

“Waaiiiit! Wait, wait, wait! I know you don’t like having pets in the house and I know that it’s a really big responsibility and I know you don’t trust me with that—but it followed me home and I just couldn’t shoo this little fox—cat— or is a dog— no fox—ah, cat away—” 

“Ahhh, fox, cat, or dog….?” Ryoma asked, crossing his arms in confusion.

“Ahhhhhh Fox!” Takumi was internally panicking and Fujin’s ears were slowly dropping with Ryoma’s steadily frowning face, “—But I promise that I’ll take really, really, really good care of him and that I promise to keep the little guy out of trouble—” 

He didn’t finish as Ryoma suddenly snorted before flat out laughing at him. Takumi's face flushed in embarrassment, “R-Ryoma-nii! Stop laughing— this isn’t funny!” 

His older brother just laughed, putting away the medical supplies and throwing away the used cotton balls in the trash. 

“Takumi,” he began, stepping out of the bathroom, “Relax, I’m not mad at you. You can calm down.” 

Takumi blinked in surprise and sagged a little, allowing most of his tension to fade, “You’re not…?” 

“I’m not. I don’t recall ever saying that I didn’t like pets.” Ryoma took a look at Fujin and frowned a little, “Foxes are white?” 

“Ahhhh…. yeah?” 

“Riiiiight,” Ryoma drawled, unconvinced, “Ignoring that, I think it’s alright. I mean, you said it did follow you home, so I don’t think I could get rid of it if I tried.” 

“He. His name is Fujin,” Takumi corrected. Ryoma blinked.

“You already named it?” 

“Well, I was thinking of Fu-chan. It sounds more of a pet name,” Takumi answered honestly. Fujin’s ears flicked in annoyance, but said nothing. 

Ryoma held out his hands and nodded to Takumi, “Go and take your bath. I’ll take Fu-chan and give him a little something from the kitchen.” 

Fujin stiffened slightly as he was passed from his owner to Ryoma, slightly apprehensive about the strange acceptance of the other human. 

“Thanks, Ryoma-nii,” Takumi said gratefully. Ryoma watched his little brother pick of his bag and the beautiful, incomplete bow and said nothing as Takumi disappeared into his room. He turned around and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Once he heard the water run upstairs, Ryoma looked down to Fujin and placed him on a dinning chair. 

They had a bit of a stare down. Ryoma glared dangerously at the little fox, who glared back just as dangerously. Another long moment of silence fell between them before Ryoma broke it.

“I know something is up and that bow is probably your fault. I won’t ask, but I swear, if you hurt my little brother in any way... **I’ll make you pay.** ” 

That was the first, and last time Fujin ever had a shiver run up his spine by a mere  **human**.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fujin, you ded fox meat. 
> 
> I honestly love writing Ryoma and Takumi's interactions. Even more with Leon in the later chapters. 
> 
> Ahaha, anyway, I should've given my personal tumblr too. I don't do much on there because well, I forget to log out of my art blog. So, if you guys are tagging me on tumblr for this story, tag @kaorumi or put the link to the story instead. Not my art blog. It's seriously just art. But thanks in advance! For any art for the story, yeah, just tag my personal one and I'll add it to the text~ 
> 
> I wrote this instead of my midterm. Heh, rip.
> 
> Update: Ohhh my gods--- the art--- ahhhhhhhhh...!!!


	7. Somehow Worthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takumi flips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this yesterday, but ugh. College paper. Oh! @eru-iru drew art for the pervious chapter! Please go check it out! ^^ I absolutely love it~

_The light of the Fujin Yumi faded, leaving Takumi to suddenly drop to his knees. The bow fell out of his hands and clattered loudly on the dusty floor. His arms didn’t ache, but he just felt… exhausted. He felt like he couldn’t hold himself up at all. Instead of hitting the floor, he landed softly a wall of fluffy fur. He looked up to see Fujin’s head right up in his face._

_**“You did well, kit— a feat your mother couldn’t do.** _ **_”_**

_Takumi mustered a tired glare, “Why— why are you so focused on my mother— that she’s_ my  _mother.”_

_Fujin curled around Takumi, almost protectively, **“You want to know about your mother that much?”**_

_Takumi paused. He barely knew anything about his mother. He was told that his birthmother was weird, if not strange. No one wanted to talk much about her. In fact, no one wanted to talk about her. Even with the obvious dislike from his relative, Ryoma and Hinoka had told him so many stories of how wonderful she was. A little strange, but still a wonderful mother. He, himself remembered her warmth and her whispered reassurances in the evenings she was there._

_Yet, even with those stories, those memories, it wasn’t enough. He wanted to know more about her, but he was scared of his warm memories to be taken away… if that made any sense._

_“Why… why are you so focused on her?” he asked quietly. He didn’t notice that his hands were clutched into a tight fist._

_**“She was a very young girl, kit. One that didn’t deserve to be burdened with the troubles of our world. If she had— if she just—… no. She had done what she had deemed to be good in the eyes of humans rather that of spirits,”** Fujin admitted,  **“Many didn't like her and tried to eat her.**_ _**Your presence resembles her greatly.”**_

_Takumi blinked, lifting his head slightly to look at Fujin, “Is… is that why I can see you—see them?”_

_Fujin shifted his fluffy tail for a moment, **“There is no other explanation.”**_

_He was silent for a moment, taking in the tiny bit of information about his mother. Takumi’s heart felt heavier and his eyes began to burn. What about his other siblings?_

_Why couldn’t Ryoma hear the haunting laughter and not him? Why couldn’t Hinoka smell the death that sometimes floated around and not him? Why couldn’t Kamui feel the coldness in the air and not him? Why couldn’t Sakura see the horrors at the corner of the windows and not him? He wanted to know more; he wanted to understand why was it like this._

_His phone rang, a grueling reminder that there was no time for self pity. He wiped way the unshed tears and dung in his pocket. There was never any time for anything. It just wasn’t damn fair._

_._._._._._._

Two days. 

It had been two days since Takumi took in Fujin and the weird bow; since Leon took him home and thankfully (and surprisingly) never brought it up. Damn, Takumi was beyond happy that his luck had been great so far, well, as good as it could possibly get. 

He sat at his desk, tapping the butt of his pencil on the thick packet he still hadn’t finished. Of course, he didn’t expect to finish it quickly, but this was ridiculous. He had stared at the same math problem for the past— he didn’t know, half hour? He wasn’t focused enough to think straight at the moment. 

His mind was still occupied with all that had happened; the defeated one-eyed dog of some sort, the mention of his mother’s name (especially how it had been addressed), the fox spirit Fujin, and the bow… 

He glanced over to the said bow resting at the corner of his room. He was surprised that Ryoma did nothing to question it. Then again, his brother probably knew that Takumi didn’t want to talk about it. If anything, Takumi had plenty of time to figure out how to explain all of this without sounding like an idiot. 

He groaned. The very thought of trying to figure out what had happened made his head hurt. Takumi leaned back, heaving a heavy sigh as he dropped his pencil in defeat. He was never going to make any sense out of this for sure. 

For one thing, he never knew his birthmother could see spirits. Well, he had a vague idea, and his older siblings only dropped tiny, barely noticeable hints. Two, he was the only one in his family to inherit the ability to “see”. Three, he just moved here and a bunch of the small spirits keep calling him “Ikona” (trust him, it’s just plain weird and very awkward to be called by his mother’s name). It’s almost like they praise her. And four… 

Well, four, he’s inherited the Fujin Yumi… whatever the hell that was. Oh, and the bundle of white fur napping on his bed. 

Yup, he was never going to finish his homework at this rate, much less catch up in class. 

Takumi got up from his desk and moved to a box. He remembered Fu-chan asking him about a book of pressed flowers, and he might’ve seen it somewhere. Curious, he dug in one box and then another, only finding his collection of history books he never gotten to read yet. 

He sighed, holding one in his hand. He absolutely loved to read. He used to have a lot of time when he was stuck at home, but lately, he just couldn’t find any. Standing up, he shelved the books in the shelf that Ryoma had installed into his room the other day before leaving his room. 

Maybe he could find the pressed flowers in some other box? His eyes widened slightly when he spotted the pile of folded cardboard at the top of the stairs. 

“Just how much did Ryoma-nii unpack…?” Takumi muttered, looking for an unpacked box. It was very... unusual to see so many boxes already unpacked and it... unnerved him a little. He combed the first floor and peeked into the hallway closet. Nothing but labeled storage containers and extra blankets. He was about to turn away when he noticed an off colored box at the top shelf, almost hidden from sight and out of reach. He didn’t recall seeing that box before. 

Curious, he looked down the stairs and heard his brother in the kitchen, probably preparing dinner. Sure that his brother wasn’t coming up anytime soon, he scaled up the surprisingly sturdy shelves and managed to grab the box, surprised to find it very light in his hand.

He took a step back and studied the box. Its edges were yellowed with age and the surface was stained with dirt and water damage. He had a bit of a difficult time opening it, but he blinked at the contents inside. 

There, sitting in the center of the aged box, was an old, bound by hand book. The title of the book was written in an all too familiar penmanship. 

_**“Book of Flowers"**_

He took it out of the box and flipped through the entire book. Every single sheet had a beautiful dried flower and a name. The writing was weird, but for some odd reason, Takumi could read every name just fine. 

_“ **Tsukuyomi** … **Nishiki** … **Luna** …” _

“It’s… been years since I’ve seen this,” Takumi muttered, awed at the papery texture under his fingers. It was still in a generally good condition; crisp paper, and very slight yellowing at the edges of it. To feel it in his hands again just… felt right. He didn’t know why he never kept it with him. From all the things that they had kept of their mother, this book was something Takumi treasured dearly. 

Nodding to himself, he closed the box and returned it back to its hiding place. He made sure to make it look like nothing happened in the first place before heading to his room with the book in hand. 

_“Oh? What’s that, kit?”_ Fujin asked from his spot on Takumi’s bed (he kind of cuddled with the teddy bear) and perked his ears. Takumi held up the Book of Flowers and frowned a little. 

“Recognize this?” 

Fujin’s eyes widened almost comically,  _“The Book of Flowers! I knew you had it, but—”_

“But? I had this with me when mother died, then I had to move. I guess Ryoma-nii had it all this time,” Takumi said, looking at the book again. There was a sadness in his eyes, that Fujin didn’t miss. 

“Anyway, you said that you knew mom, so that must mean, you know what this— Book of Flowers is,” Takumi stated, half-diving, half-falling into his stomach on his bed. Fujin jumped up, only to settle on the crook of Takumi’s arm and nudge his nose on the Book of Flowers.  

_“…This book is where Ikona wrote the names of the yokai who she befriended,”_  he began. Takumi blinked, a little surprised that he wasn’t as shocked as felt he should’ve been, as Fujin continued. 

_“By befriended, it was more on the lines of her challenging the yokai to a game. If she won, she would take their names. If she lost, they were free to do what they wanted with her. Her power was strong, maybe a little stronger than yours, that many yokai tried to eat her and humans disliked her.”_  

“So… basically my mom went around bullying yokai and took their names?” Takumi asked, but it sounded more like a statement than anything, “That… kind of makes sense.” 

He flipped through the book once more, “Even so, why would mom want to just take their names?” 

_“What? I thought you already knew. Names are—”_

“—Powerful. Yeah, I know,” Takumi rushed, flicking at Fujin’s ear, “But what I mean is, why would my mother just take their names? Why couldn’t she just — I don’t know — take something else?” 

_“Simply because if someone has the paper, and calls the name, their demands can’t be denied. Putting it bluntly, anyone can control them. If it falls into the hands of a yokai, and a powerful, or an idiot one at that, then who knows what would happen,”_  Fujin explained, ears twitching in annoyance. 

“Like you?” 

_“Yes, like me— HEY.”_

“…Does that mean your name is in here, too?” Takumi asked. 

_“What?! No! I’m not foolish enough to get my name in that book!”_

“That’s a shame.”

_“For the love of— How are you taking this so well?”_  Fujin hissed, flicking his tail in Takumi’s face, who sneezed.  _“Listen to me, kit! You’re in danger! Not many were happy with your mother’s sudden disappearance a few years back. For you to suddenly appear, they’ll think you **are**  Ikona!”_

“And if they think I’m mom, then… wait, then they’ll be asking for their names back,” Takumi realized. He bit his lip and sat up, “But that’s just— why now? I mean, I had this book with me this entire time and not once had anyone came running at me for their name.” 

_“Don’t tell me you don’t know— this is your mother’s birthplace. She had been here for years before she suddenly up and left us all! Many of us consider that as abandonment!”_ Fujin fumed,  _“You are her son—who also happened to inherit her power— you get it, don’t you?”_

“Uhm…. yeah, sure, but that doesn’t explain why I have that bow over there,” Takumi jabbed a thumb in the direction of the elegant bow, "You haven’t exactly said how that ties in with my mother. In fact, you made it sound like she couldn’t wield it.” 

_“Of course she couldn’t. She wasn’t worthy of it.”_  Fujin’s matter of fact voice threw Takumi in for a loop. 

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait—what?

“Hooooold it— That makes absolutely no sense! If I inherited my mom’s abilities, then how can I use the bow. You said it was a ’sacred bow’ or something like that, and you’re… well, you’re the guardian,” Takumi said, waving a hand in the air with a slight frown. Fujin seemed to heave a heavy sigh as he dropped his head. 

_“That is…”_

“Is…?” 

_“That is a very good question.”_

“You mean you don’t know?” Takumi spluttered. 

_“I never said I didn’t know,”_ Fujin said, living his head with a fox-like grin and his tail swaying confidently. 

Takumi couldn’t snap an answer at him when he heard his brother call for them, “Takumi! Fu-chan! Dinner’s ready!” 

Fujin leapt out of Takumi's bed and bounded out the door, leaving Takumi to fume a little. That little--

Takumi made it to the kitchen a minute later, glaring at the damn little fox spirit, who munched on a place of grilled fish. When Ryoma wasn't looking, he turned to Fujin. For the first time in his sixteen years of life, Takumi finally flipped a finger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a first for everything.... 
> 
> Couldn't find a good place to end it, but now that I have that out of the way, I can start with Leon and Takumi's starting friendship! OH and This was supposed to be posted for the celebration of Natsume's Book of Friends' Sixth Season. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.
> 
> I'll try to update soon--
> 
> If you haven't yet, check out the previous chapter for the newly added art! ^^


	8. Leon's Tomatoes (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Fujin, you little--"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *rises from the dead, drops the chapter, dies again*

The moment the weekend arrived, Takumi almost cried a little. He managed a whole week without getting into an absurd amount of trouble. To him, it was a miracle all in itself. Of course, he knew that it was just a small accomplishment. It was nothing to really celebrate at all.

If anything, he should be more concerned with the ball of fluff he acquired and the odd tensions between the fox and Ryoma. While his brother was willing to let the fox stay, Takumi didn’t miss the slight glares that Fujin received. He had been waiting for Ryoma to question him about the fox, but it never came.

He didn’t know whether to be happy or just a little worried about that.

To be honest, Takumi would rather have his brother question him than keep silent. It made him anxious.  

Then again, if Takumi considered the ton of information that Fujin dumped on him, he had every right to be unnerved. Takumi almost didn’t know what to think of it. He felt oddly calm knowing that his mother had probably did something that was completely dangerous—maybe even forbidden. Even so, as her child, he had to carry the burden somehow.

…If he could call it a burden.

The morning was still early and he was happy that the weekend had arrived. Ryoma had left him alone with Fujin to do a bit of grocery shopping in town. That basically meant that he could hole up in his room and work on that stack of assignments… not that he wanted to.

“So, how do I return a name?” Takumi asked, munching on a slice of toasted bread.

 _“What? You want to what?”_ Fujin’s voice held a tone of slight disbelief as he leapt on top of the dining table. Takumi automatically grabbed him by the scruff and placed him on the chair next to him.

“’No foxes on the table’,” Takumi said, impersonating his older brother’s stern tone—and damn was he spot on, “And yes, you heard me. I want to know how to return a name.”

 _“You do realize how dangerous that is. It’s a very risky gamble,”_ Fujin said, eyeing Takumi’s bowl of sliced fruit.

“Sounds more like you’re avoiding the question,” Takumi stated, deliberately eating a strawberry. Fujin bristled and said nothing. He waited for a few moments, wondering when the fox would break the silence as he ate. It wasn’t until Takumi finished his breakfast that it finally hit him.

“Wait. You don’t know how, do you.” It wasn’t even a question. Fujin’s ears lowered suddenly and his head turned to the side, completely avoiding Takumi’s narrowed eyes.

_“Ah—well—I, ahhh…”_

Takumi resisted the urge to just smack his head on the table. Instead, he managed a twitching smile, “Never mind. I’ll figure out something… somehow… someway… or actually…”

_“Oh, and you have an idea of what to do?”_

Takumi only hummed.

._._._._._._.

_“Kit—what are you doing?”_

“Getting out of the house,” Takumi said as he grabbed the Fujin Yumi from his closet. He used an extra blanket he found to wrap the bow protectively. Maybe he should make a case for it when he had the chance. He slipped on a light jacket and grabbed the Book of Flowers, slipping it into his school bag.

_“Didn’t that lobster tell you to stay home?”_

“Lobster…?”

He took his phone off his charger and shot his brother a quick text. Ryoma won’t worry much if he at least said that he was leaving the house.

…

Probably.

Takumi ignored the five text notifications from his older brother as he hurried out of the house. Fujin scrambled after him, his tail nearly catching at the door.

_“Hey! Kit! Watch the tail!”_

“Hurry up, Fu-chan! Or else Ryoma-nii will catch us!”

_“The Lobster??”_

“He’s not a lobster!”

._._._._._.

“I’m heading out!” Leon said as he grabbed his house keys.

“Leon! You said you were going to help me with my homework!” came a voice from the kitchen. Leon took a moment to open the door as his little sister scampered out of the kitchen. Her long twin tails swayed as she stopped right in front of her older brother, "You're not going back on your word, are you?" 

“I'm not, Elise. I’ll help you after I get back," he promised her, patting her head out of habit, "Think you'll be fine by yourself?"

She pouted for a second before a bright smile came across her face, "I'll be a-okay! Big brother Marx said he'll be home soon."

"Right. Just call me if anything happens. Got it?"

"Got it!"

"I'm serious."

"I'll be fine!" Elise assured, giving Leon a quick hug. He grunted a bit, but hugged her back. He wasn't a stiff big brother. 

"All right. I'll be back as soon as I can," he said, breaking the hug. He knew Elise was waving frantically as he stepped out the door. He took a moment to lock the door himself and dig through his sweater pocket. He pulled out several slips of paper with odd writing on it, and stuck two at the entrance. Leon didn't take any chances as he went around his house, slapping the paper slips on the walls. 

When he finished, he hurried over to the sidewalk, just to makes sure he got everything. Damn, was he glad he was able to sneak into everyone's room upstairs to stick some outside. With one last look, he nodded to himself and took his leave.

 ._._._._._.

The leaves crunched under Takumi's shoes as he finally reached a path. He didn't think it would be so damn difficult to hike up to that house Fujin brought him to before. He had spent over an hour just trying to find a path to the house, but there was none. He eventually gave up and just dove into the forest. He figured he'd find a way somehow and he did. 

 _"You know I could've just taken you there if you just told me where we were going,"_ came Fujin's voice. Takumi rolled his eyes and brushed off a leaf. 

"And let you transform into a giant fox like thing no one could see, take off with me? I'm pretty sure people would freak out if they saw me flying in midair by myself," he said.

Fujin trotted ahead a bit,  _"I don't see your point."_

Takumi resisted the urge to face palm, "Fujin. You're a spirit for crying out loud." 

 _"Your brother can see me,"_ Fujin said, flicking his tail. Takumi felt his irritation go up a notch, and he grabbed Fujin by the scruff. 

"When you're a tiny little sh*t," he deadpanned.

_"What did you just call me?!"_

"Nothing."

Fujin glared at him (somehow) and demanded to get down. Of course, Takumi didn't. Instead, coddled the fox to his chest and followed the path to the house. While he didn't show it, Takumi knew that something was following him, but he didn't want to look back. 

He probably should've. 

._._._._._.

Leon blinked up at the sky. The clouds were slowly turning grey and the air felt quite humid, a sign for rain. Or so he thought. 

"Should've brought an umbrella," he muttered to himself. He should've known to always bring an umbrella with him, but he hadn't gone out very much lately. He had been pretty busy at school, not to mention trying to not worry about his new classmate. 

To be quite honest, he didn't know why he was a bit hung up on that one. The moment Takumi introduced himself in front of class, Leon was just-- intrigued. When Leon saw him in the back of the school, he couldn't stop himself from walking up to him. He found it strange for Takumi to be talking to himself (that should've been a warning bell for Leon), but it only made his curiosity grow. Well, Leon was more tempted to ask why his hair was so long. It was an odd color, too. He didn't know a whole lot of people with such a pale brown-ish color. Well, he knew people with light colored hair-- but nothing like Takumi's. 

Not only that- that transfer kid left his bag in the middle of a public park, completely unattended. Who in the world did that? Leon frowned. Takumi did apparently. It was even stranger or weirder that Leon ended up picking him up by that old, abandoned house near his garden. If anything, that compelled him to save his number in case something happened again. 

Leon suddenly stopped when a thought crossed him. Why the hell was he so concerned for a kid who barely pays attention in class and looks like he was about to keel over half the time? 

He usually never cared. 

He shook his head and climbed over a fallen log. Some of the trees were-- wait. These trees weren't supposed to be broken this way. He looked further ahead and blinked. 

"Oh,  ** _hell_ ** no." 

._._._._._.

Takumi was exhausted by the time he reached the house. He dropped Fujin unceremoniously on the ground and stumbled through the still open sliding doors without a thought. Gods, he was tired. 

 _"Heh, after all the running you do during the week, one would think you'd be more than skin and bones,"_ Fujin said, stretching his back,  _"It's almost to pathetic to look at you."_

Takumi groaned in irritation and lifted himself off the floor, "Is this because I called you a little sh*t?" 

He didn't get an answer as Fujin disappeared down the hall, leaving him by himself. Stupid fox. 

To be quite honest, Takumi felt at home here, despite the thick layer of dust and covered furniture. The rooms were generally normal, if he ignored the old, practically useless paper charms that lined the windows and doors. They all seemed different than what he usually saw. They were all blank. Takumi never did study about paper charms or any sort of exorcism for that matter, but he knew that these charms weren't supposed to be blank. 

He came across the room that he spotted before. It was still the same from the last time he took a glimpse: a messy futon and a closet full of colorful kimonos. He found it odd how this was the only room that lacked furniture. There was a wooden desk nearby, too low for a chair to be placed, and a stack of weathered old paper, an opened bottle of dried ink, and a used brush on top. 

It was pretty obvious that it had been years since anyone lived here. 

Takumi moved over to the closet, and struggled to slide the door completely open. He tried for a minute, but eventually gave up with frustrated sigh. Maybe he did need to work out a bit. 

He reached in and gently pulled out the closest kimono off the hanger. To his surprise, it felt soft in his hands, and the design-- it took his breath away. The colors were bright and vibrant. The water lilies laid so innocently in the soft surface of the flowing water. He spotted a lovely koi fish hidden beneath the lily pads, causing soft ripples in the water. It was just...

 _"Oh! That takes me back,"_ came Fujin's voice. Takumi tore his gaze away from the kimono as the fox waltzed into the room. _"If I remember correctly, that kimono was made by a yokai seamstress. I don't know if she's still around."_

"A yokai seamstress?  _This_ was made by a yokai?" Takumi asked, lifting the kimono up. It swayed beautifully in his hands, and the water almost looked as if it moved. "It's... beautiful." 

 _"Of course it is! Nothing could ever beat Oboro's workmanship,"_ Fujin said proudly, fluffing up his chest. Takumi shook his head and gently put the kimono back into the closet. While it was absolutely stunning, he figured it was best left where he found it. He took one last look at the room, leaving the futon alone before moving on to the next room. 

 _"Still, I can't figure you out, kit,"_ Fujin said, trailing after Takumi, _"Why did you come all this way?"_  

"It's pretty simple, really," Takumi began, lifting up the wrapped bow, "I'm here for this. Actually-- I think I should be returning it." 

 _"WHAT?"_ Fujin bristled,  _"You can't do that! That bow choose you! You can't just **return it**. What kind of--" _

"I'm kidding," Takumi deadpanned. He reached down, picked up the little fox, and allowed Fujin to just cuddle against him. "It's just this theory I have." 

_"Oh?"_

Takumi nodded, "Yup. Just taking a look at this house, I'm guessing that someone you knew lived here. To be more specific, mom lived here, didn't she." 

It wasn't a question. Fujin's ears twitched, silently confirming Takumi's suspicions. 

"I thought about what you told me; about how mom was, uhm... well, I guess a bully, and how I'm the only one in my family who can see you and inherit the Book of Flowers." 

He made his way further into the house, eventually finding himself back in the same room he found the Fujin Yumi bow.

"This house was where mom used to live--maybe before she met dad. If I want to return the names from the Book of Flowers, then there's probably some secret in this house that would help me," Takumi reasoned. Fujin humphed and slipped out of Takumi's grip, landing on his paws. 

 _"Ahh, now I see. I don't agree with you much... but, since you are my newest guardian, I am willing to help you find a way to return these names,"_ Fujin said. He earned a small scratch behind the ears from Takumi. 

"Thanks, Fu-chan."

With their goal in mind, they began to scour the room for some sort of hint to returning the names. Takumi took a moment to open the screen doors, letting the fresh air in to greet him. 

Or so he thought. 

The moment he opened the screen doors, his amber eyes were caught in a familiar pair of reddish brown eyes. 

"Takumi...?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah-- for those of you who noticed (and didn't notice), I accidentally put Leo instead of Leon for the cover pic, and I'm like-- too lazy to fix that. I was planning on using the english translation for later in the story. Rip me. 
> 
> Don't kill me-- I had a hard time figuring out what to do next. I didn't plan this out to be a flowing story, but to be random slices of life that Takumi deals with. RIP me. Hope you guys liked this!


	9. Leon's Tomatoes (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon found his tomato.

There was small breeze that blew by as the two teens stared at each other in shock. Takumi had never thought to see his classmate-- the person who just happened to find his bag, called him, and gave him a ride home-- standing rigidly in the middle of a wreck, holding a few smashed tomatoes and broken vines.

Leon was the first to break the silence with a confused frown, "You-- I-- What are you doing here?"

Takumi blinked out of his stupor, "What am I-- That's my question!"

"I asked first," Leon deadpanned.

"I-- you don't have to know what I'm doing! It's none of your business!" Takumi spluttered. He tried not to cringe at his own words. He certainly didn't mean to sound rude, but he couldn't help it.

Leon's eyes narrowed in annoyance, "It is my business."

It was Takumi's turn to frown, "I don't see how--"

He couldn't finish as Leon lifted the destroyed tomatoes and vines, and gestured around him. Some trees were either cracked or bent out of shape, and the ground was uprooted with blotches of red tomatoes and greenery everywhere.

"This-- was my garden."

A sudden rush of realization hit Takumi first before guilt could. His eyes widened with shock and he clapped his hands over his mouth, “Oh— oh no— I’m so sorry!”

“Why are you— wait, you did this?” Leon asked, his voice full of confusion.

“Yes-no-maybe? It could be Fu-chan’s fault, or was it that weird—“ Takumi couldn’t finish that sentence coherently as Fujin chomped on his ankle. Of course, he tried his best not to curse vehemently in front of Leon. That would have been incredibly rude of him.

_“Kit!!”_

Leon dropped everything in his hands and gave him a weird look, “What was that?”

“Ahhhhhh - I’ll make it up to you!” Takumi spluttered, “I mean, I’m really sorry about your garden. I didn’t mean for this to happen and-and-and—“

“Calm down, would you?” Leon suddenly said, raising a hand to Takumi, “I’m not that upset— that’s a lie. I am, but there is no possible way you could’ve done this.”

Takumi clamped his mouth shut to prevent himself from correcting his classmate. No matter what Leon said, it was definitely his fault, but he knew it was impossible to properly explain what happened without sounding insane. Leon would never believe him.

“It was probably some random animal that ruined it,” Leon went on to say. He sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair, “So… uhm, stop blaming yourself.”

Takumi opened his mouth again, but closed it because he knew he was just about to apologize. Instead, he dropped down from the ledge and grabbed the closest tomato. It was a bit bruised, and fit in the palm of his hand nicely, nearly perfectly fine. He looked up to see Leon staring at him. His expression was hard to read, and Takumi didn’t know what to think of it. It was the second time he was unable to read his class president.

“Would it make you feel better if I let you help me?” Leon asked after a moment.

Takumi didn’t even pause to think about it, “Please let me help you.”

Leon nodded in acceptance and pulled up his sleeves, “Then let’s get to work, Takumi.”

._._._._._.

The afternoon air began to grow humid and Takumi sat back on his heels with a sigh. His arms ached, his feet were sore, and his legs were most likely cramped. He didn’t have any gloves on him, or anything protective for gardening. He was caked in dirt.

He glared at Fujin, who curled up in a fluffy ball on the engawa. It greatly peeved him when Fujin had the nerve to yawn lazily, flicking his tail in his direction with that annoying foxy grin. The damn fox spirit did nothing to help while the boys worked on the garden.

“How are you doing over there?” came Leon’s voice. Takumi shook his head and looked over to his class president, “I cleared up this area. It’s a bit muddy though.”

Leon got up from his place on the other side of the garden and joined Takumi. He looked just as tired and mess as the other. “Well, looks better. Sorry about the lack of gloves. I usually bring a pair, but I wasn’t planning on staying long.”

Takumi frowned, “Sorry…”

“Again? It’s not your fault,” Leon said, “let’s just take a break. We can just come back tomorrow.”

Takumi didn’t have to respond as they both got up to relax on the engawa*. He grabbed the fox by the scruff and coddled him in his arms. Fujin yowled and squirmed, but he eventually gave up when Takumi plopped on his back in exhaustion.

The class president wasn’t far behind as he too dropped next to him, arms outstretched and eyes closed. They both laid there in silence for a moment, taking in the calmness around them.

Takumi was almost lured to sleep when he suddenly realized something, jolting himself awake.

“Why do you have a garden all the way up here?”

There was a disbelieving scoff, “Couldn’t you tell? The soil here is ridiculously fertile and the texture is just perfect for tomatoes all year round.”

Takumi closed his eyes. He could understand why Leon said that. He could feel the odd presence of a yokai nearby. It wasn’t just those everyday ones he came across on a daily basis. It was old. Very old, and just felt… warm for some reason. He knew it wasn’t Fujin, since the fox was just different.

It was actually just as pleasant as Fujin (he’d never admit that though).

“Just tomatoes?” Takumi asked after a moment.

“I haven’t tried anything else.”

“What about strawberries? It’s almost winter.”

“....I’ll think about it.”

They stayed there for a while, enjoying the cool breeze and the peacefulness, until Leon got up.

“I should head home soon,” he said, dusting off his hands and clothes. Takumi sat up and let Fujin curl on his lap, staying silent as he stared.

“You should head home too. I don’t have the car today, and it’s a bit of a long walk to get to our neighborhood,” Leon said, sending a quick glance at the other. Takumi pursed his lips for a moment.

“You… you haven’t asked me why I’m here,” he said, feeling Fujin tense on his lap. Leon regarded him with a blink.

“You didn’t look like you wanted to say.”

Unease crossed Takumi’s face as Leon continued, “I’m not going to ask if you don’t want to tell me. It’s not my business.”

The look on Takumi’s face said otherwise, considering the destroyed garden, but Leon ignored it.

“I won’t force you, but…” he trailed off as he looked away, “...uhm… I live pretty close. If you need a ride or something just call me.”

There was an awkward pause.

“...Are you asking me out?” Takumi asked bluntly. His eyes were narrowed slightly and Fujin’s ears twitched, “You’ve only just met me.”

It was amazing that Leon didn’t visibly splutter while internally screaming at himself for sounding like a fool, “No. I’m offering help.”

Alarms started to ring in Takumi’s head. If he accepted it, then that would mean getting closer to Leon. He didn’t— no, he couldn’t let that happen.

“I don’t want it,” Takumi huffed. He wasn’t about to get Leon involved. Then again, he kind of already did.

“Then consider it my way of thanking you for helping me with the garden,” Leon said, squaring his shoulders.

“But I’m helping you because I destroyed it. It wouldn’t make sense,” Takumi argued. He wasn’t about to back down. Leon gave him a slightly frustrated frown.

“This again? You didn’t do it. How many times do we have to establish that?”

“I definitely did something.”

“Why are you so stubborn over something virtually impossible?”

“Why are you even bothering to help a person like me then?” Takumi asked suddenly. Not once in his life did someone outside of his family offer to help him like this— or even talk to him. He was weird, and he knew that— and yet, this guy just had to talk to him. For some odd reason, it was annoying Takumi. Ryoma was enough to handle. His class president in his new school after the first week?

Takumi was sure that his anxiety would kill him before they actually become friends. The thought of getting another person involved and being close terrified him.

“Look, I—“ Takumi began, but Leon cut him off.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I don’t know why I’m helping you,” Leon elaborated, turning away from Takumi, “I just feel like it.”

Takumi frowned and got up. He didn’t join Leon, but rather turned back into the house with the quiet Fujin in his arms, “I don’t want your help. Please leave me alone.”

“The fact that you asked me politely only makes me want to help you even more.”

”There’s no point in helping me!” Takumi snapped, glaring at Leon. Fujin leapt out of his arms and disappeared into the house. He couldn’t — he just couldn't get Leon involved. “Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“To be honest, no, I can’t,” Leon said, leveling his with a look of determination, “I would ignore it, but I can’t. I just can’t.”

He approached Takumi and leaned in a little close to him. It was almost funny how Leon was a head taller than him.

“You’ll regret it,” Takumi said, returning Leon’s gaze with a glare of his own. He gripped the edge of the sliding door and held his ground, “I won’t call you.”

“Then let’s make a bet,” Leon began as he moved a little closer. Takumi nearly smacked him when he felt Leon grab his phone from his pocket. Shock held him still as his class president flicked it open and punched in a bunch of numbers.

“I just saved my number in your contacts. If you end up calling me or if I see that you need help, then I win. I get to help you with or without you willing,” Leon said. He slipped Takumi’s phone back into his pocket and leaned back.

“And if I don’t?” Takumi asked. His voice shook a little, but he forced his fear down his throat. There was a sigh.

“If you don’t, then you win. I don’t need to help you—but that’s only if.” Takumi felt the strong urge to punch him, but didn’t. Oh, he would definitely prove that he didn’t need help from this asshole.

“It’s a bet, then,” Takumi said, sealing the deal.

Leon didn’t bother to hide a relieved smile as stepped away from him, “See you tomorrow, Takumi.”

Takumi’s grip on the sliding door shook as he burned a glare at the back of Leon’s retreating head.

_“Well, that went well.”_

"Oh, shut up, Fu-chan." There was a loud thump as Takumi dropped to his knees. He couldn’t stop himself from shaking, and took a few deep breaths. He needed to calm himself before he had an anxiety attack or something.

He couldn’t believe Leon’s offer. No, he couldn’t believe that it actually happened. Not once did anyone try to get close to him over all of his years. Not once had someone reached out to him directly like this. He caused so much suffering to everyone who came close. In all honesty, Takumi didn’t know how to take it.

His own family was something he could somewhat manage because— well, they were knew him and guarded him as best as they could. Even with at their best, it still tore them apart. He could never keep everything he held dear with him.

How much more when it comes to having friends?

Takumi was downright terrified.

“I can’t get him involved,” he muttered, screwing his eyes shut, “I can’t hurt him, too.”

_“Kit! Look out!”_

Takumi barely had the moment to look up as he felt something crash into him. He caught a glimpse of fluttering fabric before the ground came rushing at him.

Then his world turned black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Engawa-- it's a wooden strip of flooring that usually lines around a room of a traditional Japanese house. I may have explained it wrong, but it's the best way I could put it... 
> 
> Huh, Fujin barely had anything to say or do this time. I need to change that next chapter. Care to guess who hit the pineapple? 
> 
> Oh, I forgot- I write short chapters because, if I don't, hell-- I wouldn't update for a very, very long time. I have no updating schedule, since all of this is just on a whim. 
> 
> Happy New Years! (hope not to die)


	10. Decaying Harvest (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Hugs'. That's it.

_“You’re not scared, are you?”_  
  
_Takumi stumbles back. The hands scrape his skin and pushes him. His back aches and his sight shakes. It’s hard to see._

_“Oh come on, scaredy cat- it’s just a room.”_

_He scrambles toward them and shakes his head._

_No._

_“If you’re so scared, then go play with your friends in here.”_

_Friends? What friends?_

_He doesn’t want to be here—_

_The door shuts. It’s dark and cold. He doesn’t want to be here._

_“Look, you shouldn’t be afraid-- after all, it’s just a easy test of bravery, right?”_

_No._

_Please._

_He wants out._

_“We’ll come back later!”_

_His hands burn and voice strains._

_He pulls at the door that doesn’t budge._

**_“Child...”_ **

_He turns and sees it. It’s light. It stares. It opens its hollow mouth._

**_“Why are you alone?”_ **

_The cold snips at his feet._

**_“Don’t be afraid.”_ **

_He shakes and shivers. He presses his hands over his ears._

_He doesn’t want to hear._

_Colder and colder and—_

**_“I won’t let you be alone.”_ **

_Takumi screams._

._._._.

By the gods, how Takumi wished he was dead— or normal— which ever one the gods would grant him first. His head throbbed by the time Takumi came to. He could hear a pair of melded voices speaking heatedly to each other and he caught on to the words.

_“-ou thinking?!”_

_“How dare-- you’ve been hiding Lady Ikona from me, haven’t you?”_

_“Hiding?! Take another look at the kit and say it again!”_

At that, Takumi snapped his eyes opened found a lopsided garden up close and personal. He groaned and shoved himself off the ground, instantly regretting it as his head spun and his vision swam.

_“Lady Ikona! Are you alright?”_

“Wha—“ Takumi didn’t have a chance to finish as cold arms wrapped around him.

 _"Ohhh, forgive me, my Lady! You’re not hurt, are you?"_ He was suddenly pushed away and finally got a view of his abuser-- no, wait…

No, yeah, abuser.

The youkai took a form of a young, pale woman. Her long, dark bluish hair tied into a long ponytail, and was held with golden hair ornaments. Her clothes were layers of beautiful silks imprinted with a setting sun.

By the gods, was she beautiful in the sunlight. Her grey eyes sparkled in relief as she held his face in her freezing hands.

_“I got too excited-- I’m so happy you’ve returned to us.”_

Her hands traveled to Takumi’s chest, sending an involuntary shiver up his back, and she froze as a look of horror crossed her face.

 _“A man?!”_ The youkai shoved Takumi out of her hands as if he was poison. He didn’t even have the second to think as she knocked him to the ground for a second time. He was pinned on the ground with a sudden dagger to his throat. Takumi gasped as the sudden movements caught up to him and something flashed before his eyes.

A faded image of the _same youkai smiling softly as she held up a bundle of fabric, “Oh this would look lovely on you, my Lady!”_

Gods, the strength of the youkai was nothing to joke about, too. The back of his head flared up in pain from hitting the ground twice in one day and the image (or memory?) faded away.

 _“Who are you and what have you done to Lady Ikona?”_ came the youkai’s voice. Takumi flinched at the dangerous tone in her voice as the dagger pressed against his skin. Cold-- it was too cold.

 _“Seamstress! Stop! That is Lady Ikona’s child!”_ Fujin yowled. The fox spirit disappeared in a puff of smoke before appearing in his full sized form. He snatched the back of the youkai’s kimono and promptly lifted her off of his charge. Takumi gasped and greedily sucked in air he didn’t realize he desperately needed. He hacked and choked as he scrambled away from the two spirits. He bolted into the house and hid behind a screen door just to be safe.

_“Let me go- I demand you let me go!”_

Takumi peeked his head from behind the door and the youkai immediately sent an icy glare. _“I’ll kill you for impersonating my Lady, you Vallite scum!”_

She was suddenly released from Fujin’s jaw and pinned underneath his massive paw.

_“Stop! Seamstress, look at the kit!”_

_“He’s an imposter! I’ll force him to tell me where our Lady is!”_

“My mother!” Takumi started, forcing the youkai to look at him. He gave her an uneasy look and stepped away from the door. The youkai squirmed under Fujin’s paw as he knelt on his knees at the edge of the engawa. His eyes were soft as he took her burning accussion, “My mother’s name… was Ikona.”

There was a moment of silence before the the youkai growled, _“Let me up, you overgrown fox dung.”_

Fujin spluttered incoherently as he lifted up his paw and allowed the youkai to get up. She stayed where she was, folding her legs underneath herself. With a grace of a thousand lions, the fox spirit leaped over to Takumi’s side and curled a protective tail around him. It was tight squeeze from him in the engawa, but Takumi was grateful for Fujin’s comfort nonetheless. He still hadn't gotten over Leon's dumb bet. 

She stared at him and Takumi stared back, forcing himself to stay still under the scrutiny. A series of emotions crossed the youkai’s face, ranging from anger, disappointment to something unreadable.

 _“I… I won’t deny that I sense a familiar power within you,”_ she growled out, _“but, I will not accept it. Not unless you can prove to me that you are her child.”_

Takumi frowned as his mind raced to come up with a response to that. He looked at Fujin, then the ground, then back again at the fox. “Uhm-- Seamstress-- how--”

 _“Return the name of a friend of mine,”_ she demanded. Her steel grey eyes leveled on him and her back was straight. Fujin’s ears perked up and his eyes narrowed. Takumi bit back a frown. He didn’t know how to return a name. Not even Fujin knew how. He didn’t have the chance to tell her as she continued.

 _“This forest is being terrorized for her lack of control over her subordinates. She has grown weak over the years and weight of the contract is straining her. If you will not call upon her, return her name.”_ She closed her eyes for a moment before looked back at Takumi, _“When you successfully return her name, then-- and only then, will I recognize you as Lady Ikona’s child.”_

Takumi shared a look with Fujin before he turned to the youkai, “I’ll do it-- but, only if you teach me how to do it.”

 _“What.”_ Her response was so flat, that it sliced the air.

Fujin’s ears flattened to his head as he sheepishly turned away, _“Ahem… I… may or may not have forgotten the ritual to return names...”_

._._._._._.

The grass crunched underneath Takumi’s feet as he hiked down the side of the mountain. As much as he would’ve have loved to hop on Fujin’s back, he doubted that people would’ve liked to see him floating in midair. He was a literal mess. He hadn’t washed off the dirt that was smothered all over him and his clothes were smeared in nature.

Fujin did him a favor by scouting ahead and carrying the bow on his back. It was funny to watch the small fox nearly ram the bow into a branch before expertly scrambling away. Maybe Takumi should’ve offered him to carry his bag or something.

With a huff, he hauled himself over a rock ledge. His legs were getting tired and his arms were burning from this impromptu hike he got himself into. The youkai was far ahead of him, impatiently tapping her foot as she waited for him to catch up.

_“Can’t you just pick him up with your jaws, fox? The human is being pathetically slow.”_

By the gods, that youkai’s tongue held nothing back.

 _“If I did, I’d crush the trees,”_ Fujin snapped, _“I’m pretty sure your friend wouldn’t appreciate that in her domain.”_

 _“I suppose you’re right,”_ came the huffed reply. Takumi resisted the urge to say something snarky. He didn’t want to be pinned to the ground with a dagger at his neck, thank you very much. He let their small talk (if the sarcasm and the bite in their words could be considered as that) fade to the background as he focused on following them.

His mind silently apologized repeatedly to Ryoma as the sun began to get a little closer to sunset. There was no doubt that his brother would be worried, and Takumi sent a reassuring text to him that he’d be home in time for dinner. He probably should’ve waited for a day before attempting the Seamstress’s request, but he decided against that. He was practically spent from the gardening and the hike was draining as it was.

But, Takumi was determined to prove himself-- if not now, then he would probably lose his resolve the next day. There were so many questions that he had ignored, and the Seamstress might have the answers he had avoided for quite a while now.

Maybe he won’t have to shove people away if he could do this.

_“Hey-- imposter-- we’re almost here.”_

Takumi shook his head to clear his thoughts and refocused to his surroundings. He was still in the middle of nowhere with trees and more trees to be seen in every direction. He silently began to regret his decision. How was he going to get home... ?

Fujin bristled a little and kept close to Takumi, _“Oi, kit-- the bow--be on your guard.”_

Takumi nodded as he grabbed the Fujin Yumi in his hands and braced himself. The youkai was still a few ways ahead of him and gestured him to come closer.

 _“The shrine to the harvest spirit is just beyond that foliage,”_ she informed him, _“Do you remember what I told you?”_

“Yeah,” Takumi nodded once more.

The atmosphere felt a little heavier and the air around him nearly chilled him to the bone. He resisted the urge to back away as tendrils of vines curled near him, almost as if they were guiding him in a path that it created.

There was a sudden snap behind him and he heard Fujin roar and the Seamstress yell. He looked back to see Fujin’s large tail blocking his sight and the youkai turning around to face him. In her pale hands was a metal spear laced with soft yellow ribbons tied to the base of its head.

 _“Don’t just stand there! Run!”_ The second she warned him the familiar form of the one-eyed dog...thing attacked Fujin.

Takumi didn’t dare to help them as he turned on his heel and followed an overgrown path. His exhaustion disappeared as fear turned into his energy. He was not willing to die now.

The air choked at him and his body grew numb to the cold the further he went in. The light seemed to be slowly filtering out as he neared thickets of huge tree roots and branches drenched in a black goo.

**_“Lady Ikona…”_ **

A small voice echoed around him as he began to climb over the sticky tree roots. He ignored the burning sensation where the black ooze was smeared on his skin. The path had disappeared into a tightly woven wall of branches with thorny vines of sickly flowers blooming across it.

_**“Please-- help me...”** _

He stopped himself from touching the flowers as a wave of nausea hit him. He knew that he should never touch it. He looked around, trying to find another way to reach the voice beyond the wall-- he knew it was there, and he had to help it.

No one else could.

Takumi took several steps back and held the Fujin Yumi in his hands. The blue bow string appeared before him in a spring of light. The energy sang in his fingertips as he pulled back the bowstring and the arrow appeared a second later. He took a deep breath to focus his attention and took aim.

_**“Please give my name back to me!”** _

He steeled his nerves and released the arrow with his breath. The arrow shot forward with a purifying light, piercing the wall at its center. Takumi watched in awe as the wall became drenched in the Fujin Yumi’s light before crumbling away into thin air. His eyes widened as his heart clenched at the sight before him.

There, in the middle of decaying, twisted branches and roots, was a young girl about his age. The dahlia flowers in her hair were splotched with black and grey and her skin crumbled in several different places. Her brittle hands were held closely to her chest. She looked at him with her brown eyes wide but her face was set in a look of anguish.

_**“Lady… Ikona…?”** _

Takumi didn’t stop himself from approaching her, “I’m not my mother, but…”

When he was close enough, he held out a hand to her, “will you let me help you?”

 _ **“Will you…”**_ the girl began, regarding him with a look of hope crossing her features, _**“give it back to me?”**_

“Yes,” came Takumi’s answer. She broke her hands apart and took his hand. He could feel the rough texture of her skin as he gently pulled her out of the wood that ensnared her. The moment the last of the wood released her, Takumi held her in his arms like a mother would carry her child.

Her body was freezing against his skin, but he almost didn’t feel it. He gently placed her on the ground and patted her head. With his hands free, he reached into his school bag and retrieved the Book of Flowers. The girl’s eyes weren’t focused on him as he knelt before her.

He remembered the Seamstress’s instructions as he opened the book with certainty, _“Pay attention-- picture the youkai in your head.”_

“My Guardian that protects me, show me your name,” Takumi recited. The pages of the book flared to life as it flipped through its pages by itself and stopped at one. He grabbed the sheet and ripped it out, setting the book to the side.

_“Now, take the paper and crush it into your hands.”_

He clasped the paper in his hands and felt it crumble apart. The rough texture of the paper suddenly turned soft and delicate in his palms as he unclasped his hands. There, in his hands, were petals of dahlias.

_“Then-- blow.”_

“I return to you your name…”

Takumi took a breath and blew into the petals as the name of the youkai echoed in his head, _“Mozume.”_

The last thing he saw was a myriad of petals multiplying and engulfing the girl before his world turned white.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I died watching kujira no kora wa sajou ni utau (Children of the Whales). I don't care if some people hate it or find it unsatisfying, I love it. 
> 
> FITE ME. (no not really. don't fight me please.)
> 
> I just realized that I spelt Yokai with a u. I'm too lazy to fix it. Tell me if you liked the chapter or not nonetheless--


End file.
